Because patients with high CTGF mRNA expression levels have a better prognosis, our findings indicate that the desmoplastic reaction provides a growth disadvantage for pancreatic cancer cells.
To understand more about desmoplasia in pancreatic cancer, the expression of mRNA for type I and III collagens and potent desmoplastic inducing growth factors transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), connective tissue growth factor (CTGF), acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) A and C and epidermal growth factor (EGF) was analysed by quantitative RT-PCR.