Penn Digestive & Liver Center Summer 2011 | Volume 4 | Issue 5 Chief’s Pancreatic Cancer & Pancreatitis CORNER I am pleased to announce that each of the following members of the nationally recognized faculty of the Division of Gastroenterology at Penn Medicine has been promoted: MEENAKSHI BEWTRA, MD, MPH — K IMBERLY FORDE, MD, MHS — Assistant Professor of Medicine (GI) and Epidemiology, Assistant Professor of Medicine (GI) and Epidemiology, Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Senior Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (CCEB). A graduate of the University of Biostatistics (CCEB). A graduate of the Columbia College Pennsylvania School of Medicine and with an MPH from of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Forde did her Harvard, Dr. Bewtra did her medicine residency and GI medicine residency at Columbia, her MHS at Johns fellowship at Penn. Dr. Bewtra’s research and clinical Hopkins and GI fellowship at Penn. Her research and Anil K. Rustgi, MD interests are in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). clinical interests are in liver diseases. She sees patients Clinical Research in Pancreatic Disease T . Grier Miller Professor of She sees patients at the Perelman Center for Advanced at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. Medicine. Medicine and Genetics M AAROUF HOTEIT, MD — Assistant At Penn Medicine Chief, Division of Gastroenterology ANN A BUCHNER, MD, PHD — Professor of Clinical Medicine (GI). A graduate of the Assistant Professor of Medicine (GI). A graduate of American University of Beirut, Lebanon, Dr. Hoteit This edition of the Gastroenterology Newsletter features a selection of the ground- Wroclaw Medical University in Wroclaw, Poland, completed his medicine residency and GI fellowship at Dr. Buchner did her GI fellowship at Mayo Clinic Emory University followed by a transplant hepatology breaking clinical trials in progress to investigate the pathophysiology, genetics, (Jacksonsville) and an advanced endoscopy fellowship at fellowship at Mayo Clinic (Rochester). His clinical and diagnostics and treatment of pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. These studies represent Penn. Her clinical and research interests are in colorectal research interests are in all liver diseases, liver cancer a cooperative effort between the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, the cancers, Barrett's esophagus, and IBD. She sees patients and liver transplantation. He sees patients at the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and the Penn Division of Gastroenterology. at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine. Penn Medicine Radnor*. Pancreatic Cancer Research Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition and *A facility of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Pancreatic cancer is the second most Hematogenous Dissemination Precedes PG A E 4 | common gastrointestinal malignancy and Histologic Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer the fourth leading cause of cancer-related Primary Investigators: Andrew Rhim, MD; L ONS deaths in the United States. Because the Ben Stanger, MD. O majority of patients are diagnosed late in Primary Contact: andrew.rhim@uphs. The Ruth and Raymond C the course of the disease, the prognosis upenn.edu; [email protected] Perelman Center A for pancreatic cancer is dismal. More T Background: Metastatic disease is the for Advanced Medicine than 95 percent of patients die within I predominant mode by which cancer, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard five years of diagnosis. There is thus a Philadelphia, PA 19104 and, particularly pancreatic cancer, kills great need to discover early methods of 215.349.8222 patients. Indeed, the vast majority of detection for the disease. those who are diagnosed with pancreatic Penn Presbyterian Medical Center The molecular pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer also have metastatic disease upon 38th and Market Streets cancer is being elaborated at Penn and presentation. Of those with limited or Philadelphia, PA 19104 elsewhere, and is known to include small tumors and no radiographic 215.662.8900 mutations of the K-ras oncogene (seen in evidence of metastases, many will undergo Penn Medicine Radnor* 90 percent of pancreatic adenocarcinomas), surgical resection; however, up to 90 250 King of Prussia Road the Hedgehog signaling pathway and percent of all of these patients will Radnor, PA 19087 the inactivation of the tumor suppressor eventually succumb to metastatic disease. 610.902.1500 genes p53 and p16/Ink4a, among others. These clinical observations thus suggest At Penn's Division of Gastroenterology, that the seeds of metastatic disease may be Phila., PA 19104 PA Phila., Philadelphia, PA 19104 PA Philadelphia, established long before pancreatic tumors *A facility of the Hospital of the researchers Andrew Rhim, MD, and Permit No. 2563 No. Permit Suite 210 210 Suite University of Pennsylvania are detected, or perhaps, form. The current PAID Ben Stanger, MD, have been investigating 3600 Market Street Street Market 3600 study tests the hypothesis that pancreatic U.S. Postage U.S. oncogentic mutations to identify Non-Profit Org. Non-Profit biomarkers with the potential to aid cell dissemination into the blood stream in the early diagnosis of pancreatic and colonization of distant organs occur cancer. Their study is representative of prior to tumor formation. recent research in pancreatic cancer at Objectives: To determine when during Penn Medicine. cancer progression epithelial-to- mesenchymal transition (EMT), a CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Quarterly Physician Newsletter from Penn Medicine | Division of Gastroenterology | GPA E 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Pancreatic Cancer Research at Penn PANCREATITIS RESEARCH at PENN Methods: This is a multicenter prospective cohort study performed as an ancillary to the North American Pancreatitis molecular reprogramming event thought to be required for invading into the pancreatic stroma of PanIN mice, despite Study 2 (NAPS2) using that trial’s parameters, including lifestyle, the first steps of metastasis; hematogenous dissemination; and the absence of a pathologic diagnosis of cancer based on environmental, clinical and imaging data, to subclassify CP in distant organ colonization occurs. H&E staining. Using FACS, YFP+ pancreatic cells were found African-Americans. A linked biorepository (serum and DNA) in the blood of both tumor-bearing PDAC mice and PanIN Methods: Two unique lineage-labeled mouse models of will also be established. These sporadic patients will be tested mice (94.5 ± 35.4 v. 42.9 ± 20.5 cells/ml blood; p<0.001; spontaneous pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) for known variations in major susceptibility genes for chronic n=30) but not in control Pdx-Cre; RosaYFP mice. These were created to study the fate of pancreatic epithelial cells pancreatitis, as well as for associations with genes hitherto circulating YFP+ cells were devoid of CD45 and Ter-119 during various stages of tumor progression. Both models unknown to be related to CP (genome wide association studies). (markers of white and red blood cells), expressed YFP, E- relied on the Pdx1-Cre transgenic strain to generate pancreas- These initial genotyping efforts will support analysis of gene- cadherin and Pdx-1 transcripts, and formed pancreatospheres specific mutations in Kras and either p53 or P16ink4a/ environment interactions to identify specific risk factors and in attachment-free cultures, a surrogate test for cancer stem Arf, genes that are mutated with high frequency in human optimal treatment options in African-Americans and permit cells. Finally, while rare individual YFP+ cells were found in pancreatic cancers. The Rosa26YFP allele was introduced comparisons with the NAPS2 dataset. in both groups to track the fate of pancreatic epithelial cells, small hepatic venules of PanIN mice, no metastatic lesions Chronic pancreatitis with pseudocysts in the body of the resulting in highly specific and efficient fluorescent labeling were appreciated, such as those seen in PDAC mice. pancreas (arrow). Pancreatic Cysts (>95% of all pancreatic epithelial cells). Pancreas and blood Conclusions: Using sensitive genetic tools, this study offers Researchers with the Division of Gastroenterology at Penn specimens were analyzed from 1) “PanIN” mice with only evidence that EMT, invasion, and hematogenous dissemination Acute & Chronic Pancreatitis Medicine are working with the Department of Pathology to the precancerous pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN) precede conventional histologic diagnosis of PDAC. These investigate ways to better diagnose and differentiate lesion and no histologic evidence of cancer by hematoxylin data argue against the classical linear progression model of pancreatic cysts and their progression. and eosin (H&E) staining [aged 2-2.5 mo] and 2) “PDAC” cancer, whereby dissemination occurs after tumors form. Mesothelin: A Potential Biomarker for the Diagnosis of mice harboring pancreatic tumors [aged 3.5-4 mo]. Expression Further, it suggests that current tools that are being used to Mucinous Cystic Lesions of the Pancreas of the markers Zeb1 and Fsp1 (independent predictors of diagnose carcinoma on biopsy specimens may not be mortality in pancreatic cancer) and the absence of epithelial sensitive enough to detect the earliest stages of cancer. Principal Investigators: Nuzhat Ahmad, MD; Nirag Jhala, MD. markers E-cad and CK19 were used to detect EMT in YFP+ However, it is still unclear if circulating PanIN cells are the Primary Contact: Pari Shah, MD ([email protected]). pancreatic epithelially