Abstract: ObjectiveTo study the expressions and prognostic significance of high mobility group protein A1 (HMGA1) and high mobility group protein A2 (HMGA2) in pancreatic carcinoma. MethodsThe expressions of HMGA1 and HMGA2 were examined by immunohistochemical SP method in 60 cases of pancreatic carcinoma and 30 cases of normal pancreatic tissues. The relationship between the expression and prognosis was also analyzed. ResultsThe expressions of HMGA1 and HMGA2 in pancreatic carcinoma were significantly higher than those in normal tissues, and the positive expression rates were 70.0% vs. 6.7% (χ2=32.105,P=0.000) and 73.3% vs. 3.3%(χ2=39.200,P=0.000). The expression of HMGA1 in pancreatic carcinoma was correlated with histological grade (χ2=6.774,P=0.034), TNM stage (χ2=4.776,P=0.029) and lymphatic metastasis (χ2=12.614,P=0.000). The expression of HMGA2 in pancreatic carcinoma was correlated with histological grade (χ2=8.200,P=0.017) and TNM stage (χ2=7.253,P=0.007). The expression of HMGA1 was positively associated with HMGA2 expression(r=0.393，P=0.001). KaplanMeier analysis showed that the median survival time of HMGA1 and HMGA2 positive patients were shorter than those patients with HMGA1 negative and HMGA2 negative (14.0 months vs. 24.0 months, χ2=14.568，P=0.000；15.0 months vs. 21.0 months, χ2=7.270，P=0.007). ConclusionHMGA1 and HMGA2 are highly expressed in pancreatic carcinoma, and play synergistic roles in the generation and progress of pancreatic carcinoma. There is certain value of combined detection of HMGA1 and HMGA2 to predict the prognosis of pancreatic carcinoma.

Key words: Pancreatic neoplasms, HMGA proteins