The mechanism of malignant progression of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas

Abstract

The mechanism of malignant progression of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) of the pancreas using multi-region sequencing focused on multi-step tumorigenesis and the divergent intra-tumor heterogeneity of intraductal neoplasms is being developed. Three patterns of molecular pathways are associated with the development of IPMN-related pancreatic cancers; a sequential pathway, corresponding to IPMN-derived carcinoma; a de novo pathway, corresponding to concomitant carcinoma; and a branch-off pathway, that is an inevitable molecular basis of adjacent invasive carcinoma.