Pancreatic cancer is a highly lethal malignancy with few effective therapies. We performed exome sequencing and copy number analysis to define genomic aberrations in a prospectively accrued clinical cohort (n = 142) of early (stage I and II) sporadic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Detailed analysis of 99 informative tumours identified substantial heterogeneity with 2,016 non-silent mutations and 1,628 copy-number variations. We define 16 significantly mutated genes, reaffirming known mutations (KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, SMAD4, MLL3, TGFBR2, ARID1A and SF3B1), and uncover novel mutated genes including additional genes involved in chromatin modification (EPC1 and ARID2), DNA damage repair (ATM) and other mechanisms (ZIM2, MAP2K4, NALCN, SLC16A4 and MAGEA6). Integrative analysis with in vitro functional data and animal models provided supportive evidence for potential roles for these genetic aberrations in carcinogenesis. Pathway-based analysis of recurrently mutated genes recapitulated clustering in core signalling pathways in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, and identified new mutated genes in each pathway. We also identified frequent and diverse somatic aberrations in genes described traditionally as embryonic regulators of axon guidance, particularly SLIT/ROBO signalling, which was also evident in murine Sleeping Beauty transposon-mediated somatic mutagenesis models of pancreatic cancer, providing further supportive evidence for the potential involvement of axon guidance genes in pancreatic carcinogenesis.

The diagnosis of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PanNETs) is increasing owing to more sensitive detection methods, and this increase is creating challenges for clinical management. We performed whole-genome sequencing of 102 primary PanNETs and defined the genomic events that characterize their pathogenesis. Here we describe the mutational signatures they harbour, including a deficiency in G:C > T:A base excision repair due to inactivation of MUTYH, which encodes a DNA glycosylase. Clinically sporadic PanNETs contain a larger-than-expected proportion of germline mutations, including previously unreported mutations in the DNA repair genes MUTYH, CHEK2 and BRCA2. Together with mutations in MEN1 and VHL, these mutations occur in 17% of patients. Somatic mutations, including point mutations and gene fusions, were commonly found in genes involved in four main pathways: chromatin remodelling, DNA damage repair, activation of mTOR signalling (including previously undescribed EWSR1 gene fusions), and telomere maintenance. In addition, our gene expression analyses identified a subgroup of tumours associated with hypoxia and HIF signalling.

Zinc is an essential trace element and catalytic/structural component used by many metalloenzymes and transcription factors. Recent studies indicate a possible correlation of zinc levels with the cancer risk; however, the exact role of zinc and zinc transporters in cancer progression is unknown. We have observed that a zinc transporter, ZIP4 (SLC39A4), was substantially overexpressed in 16 of 17 (94%) clinical pancreatic adenocarcinoma specimens compared with the surrounding normal tissues, and ZIP4 mRNA expression was significantly higher in human pancreatic cancer cells than human pancreatic ductal epithelium (HPDE) cells. This indicates that aberrant ZIP4 up-regulation may contribute to the pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and progression. We studied the effects of ZIP4 overexpression in pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in vitro and pancreatic cancer progression in vivo. We found that forced expression of ZIP4 increased intracellular zinc levels, increased cell proliferation by 2-fold in vitro, and significantly increased tumor volume by 13-fold in the nude mice model with s.c. xenograft compared with the control cells. In the orthotopic nude mice model, overexpression of ZIP4 not only increased the primary tumor weight (7.2-fold), it also increased the peritoneal dissemination and ascites incidence. Moreover, increased cell proliferation and higher zinc content were also observed in the tumor tissues that overexpressed ZIP4. These data reveal an important outcome of aberrant ZIP4 expression in contributing to pancreatic cancer pathogenesis and progression. It may suggest a therapeutic strategy whereby ZIP4 is targeted to control pancreatic cancer growth.cell proliferation ͉ tumor progression ͉ zinc uptake

Background-MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in cancer pathogenesis, apoptosis and cell growth, thereby functioning as either tumor suppressors or oncogenes. However, expression alterations and roles of these miRNAs in pancreatic cancer are largely unknown. We hypothesize that pancreatic cancer may have a unique miRNA profile, which may play a critical role in pancreatic cancer development, progression, diagnosis and prognosis.