This study investigated expression of the menin protein in the normal exocrine pancreas and in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common pancreatic tumor.
Thirty-nine sporadic NE tumors of foregut derivation (six thymic, 21 bronchial, three gastric, and nine pancreatic tumors) as well as two hindgut-derived rectal carcinoids for somatic MEN1 gene mutation were analyzed by direct sequencing analysis.
Allelic losses on 11q13, on which MEN-1 gene has been localized, have been noted in parathyroid and pancreatic tumors of patients with MEN-1, suggesting that the MEN-1 gene could act as a recessive tumor suppressor gene.
The results of early detection and surgical intervention of the pancreatic tumors in MEN 1 suggested an impact on morbidity, while any effect on the mortality of these individuals remains to be clarified.