Langerhans’sche Inseln spielen bei der Karzinogenese des duktalen Pankreaskarzinoms eine zentrale Rolle im Tiermodell

Abstract

In the Syrian Golden Hamstermodel pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma developed after treatment with N-nitrosobis(2-oxopropyl)amin (BOP). Further investigations indicated a central role of the Langerhans islets in the process of carcinogenesis. In contrast, mice were not affected and showed no tumour formation after treatment with BOP. It was the goal to investigate if pancreatic tumours develop after orthotopic implantation of hamster islets into the pancreas of scid mice and treatment with BOP. This would indicate that pancreatrophic carcinogens are metabolized primarily by the target cells and that islet cells are involved in pancreatic carcinogenesis. Methods: 24 scid mice were seperated into two groups of 12 animals, each. 500 hamster islets were implanted in the splenic lobe of the mice pancreas in the treatment group by mini laparotomy, the animals of the control group received a sham operation with injection of 150 µl NaCl. All animals were treated with BOP over 5 weeks. One year later the animals were killed and investigated for the formation of tumours. Results: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma developed in three animals of the treatment group compared to no tumour in the control group. The tumours showed histopathologic signs of ductal adenocarcinomas, partly with mucinous dilated, dysplastic epithelia comparable to intraepithelial neoplasias. Conclusion: Islet cells seem to play a role in pancreatic carcinogenesis.