Genetic abnormalities in IPMNs- An update

Abstract

A great deal of knowledge about intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) has been accumulated, ranging from their natural history to associated molecular abnormalities. In addition to genetic abnormalities (KRAS, GNAS, PI3KCA, BRAF, hTERT, Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), SKT11/LKB1, etc. ), many epigenetic and protein expression abnormalities have also been reported. Recently, attempts to use liquid biopsies to detect very small amounts of fragments of genes in blood, etc., as well as the establishment and analysis of organoids of IPMN cells, have been reported. However, from a clinical standpoint, it is difficult in many cases to accurately evaluate disease status including tumor grading, to predict postoperative recurrence and development of concomitant pancreatic carcinoma. In the future, it will be necessary to integrate various findings that have been accumulated so far and make them useful for medical treatment, of which the findings regarding genetic abnormalities will be the key. This review will outline the latest findings on genetic abnormalities in IPMN.