Molecular genetics of pancreatic carcinogenesis and their clinical significance

Abstract

Like all types of cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common pancreatic malignancy, is a disease of the genes and the genetic alterations that are involved in the development of PDAC have been under investigation for many years. The research described in this thesis focuses on these genetic alterations and their clinical relevance. In order to provide an overview of the current insights in pancreatic carcinogenesis, the review articles in Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 are included. In Chapter 5, multivariate analysis was conducted investigating the effects on survival of both clinical and histological features of PDAC. The study showed that lymph node ratio