AIM:We examined quantitative mRNA expression ofgrowth factor receptors(c-erbB-1,c-erbB-2)and theanti-apoptosis gene survivin known to be regulatedin pancreatic adenocarcinomas and compared theexpression pattern with that in carcinomas of the papillaof Vater.METHODS:Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR(QRT-PCR,Taqman~(TM))was performed to analyzemRNA expression levels of c-erbB-1,c-erbB-2 andsurvivin in normal and corresponding tumor samples of31 pancreatic adenocarcinomas and 8 cancers of thepapilla of Vater.RESULTS:The overall median mRNA expressionof survivin was significantly increased in bothadenocarcinoma of the pancreas(P<0.01)and papillaof Vater(P<0.008)compared with uninvolved normalcontrol tissue.In pancreatic cancer,expression ofc-erbB-1 was significantly decreased compared withthe normal pancreatic tissue(P<0.03),whereas in thecancer of the papilla of Vater expression of c-erbB-2 wassignificantly downregulated(P<0.05)compared withthe paired normal samples.Gene expression was notassociated with tumor stage,differentiation or prognosis.CONCLUSION:The common anti-apoptosis genesurvivin is overexpressed both in the cancer of the papillaof Vater and pancreas.In contrast,the growth factorreceptor genes c-erbB-1 and c-erbB-2 are differentiallyregulated in both tumor entities adding further evidencethat pancreatic cancer is biologically different from thecancer of papilla of Vater. AIM: We examined the quantitative mRNA expression of growth factor receptors (c-erbB-1, c-erbB-2) and the anti-apoptosis gene survivin known to be regulated in pancreatic adenocarcinomas and compared the expression pattern with that in carcinomas of the papilla of Vater. METHODS: Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR (QRT-PCR, Taqman ™) was performed to analyze mRNA expression levels of c-erbB-1, c-erbB-2 and survivin in normal and corresponding tumor samples of 31 pancreatic adenocarcinomas and 8 cancers of the papilla of Vater.RESULTS: The overall median mRNA expression of survivin was significantly increased in bothadenocarcinoma of the pancreas (P <0.01) and papilla of Vater (P <0.008) compared with uninvolved normal control tissue. In pancreatic cancer, expression of c-erbB- 1 was significantly decreased compared with the normal pancreatic tissue (P <0.03), while in the cancer of the papilla of Vater expression of c-erbB-2 wassignificantly downregulated (P <0.05) compared with the paired normal samples. Gene ex pression was notassociated with tumor stage, differentiation or prognosis. CONCLUSION: The common anti-apoptosis genesurvivin is overexpressed both in the cancer of the papilla of Vater and pancreas.In contrast, the growth factor receptor genes c-erbB-1 and c-erbB-2 are differentiallyregulated in both tumor entities adding further evidencethat pancreatic cancer is biologically different from the cancer of papilla of Vater.