Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is upregulated in human pancreatic cancer tissues but is not expressed in surrounding non-cancerous tissues. Serum level of IGF-I is elevated in pancreatic cancer patients. Histological analysis has shown that IGF-I receptor (IGF-IR) is positive in the membrane of pancreatic cancer tissues. These facts suggest that IGF-I acts as a growth factor for pancreatic cancer and inhibition of its action might be a good candidate for molecular therapy of pancreatic cancer. A possible problem is that not all pancreatic cancers produce IGF-I, which might be a reason for ineffective results of its clinical application.

A research team from Japan have proved that inhibition of IGF-IR activity results in a decrease in proliferation and motility of pancreatic cancer cell lines. Their study will be published on April 21, 2010 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.

Their study indicated that IGF-IR was expressed and played a role in proliferation and motility of pancreatic cancer cell lines. Further analysis of this phenomenon could unveil a new role for a growth factor receptor and its downstream pathway in cancer. One possible mechanism would be that the downstream pathway stimulates its upstream receptor via some unknown molecule, like a retrograde flow.

Reference
Tomizawa M, Shinozaki F, Sugiyama T, Yamamoto S, Sueishi M, Yoshida T. Insulin-like growth factor-I receptor in proliferation and motility of pancreatic cancer. World J Gastroenterol 2010; 16(15): 1854-1858

Correspondence to
Dr. Minoru Tomizawa, Department of Gastroenterology, National Hospital Organization Shimoshizu Hospital, 934-5 Shikawatashi, Yotsukaido City, Chiba 284-0003, Japan. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

 

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H. pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2008 IF: 2.081. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.