Activation of c‐Ki‐ras not detectable in adenomas or adenocarcinomas arising in rat pancreas

The objective of this study was to determine whether activation of c-Ki-ras occurs in carcinogen-induced rat pancreatic tumors. DNAs from 27 samples, which included adenomas, carcinomas in situ, and adenocarcinomas arising in azaserine-treated rats and corn oil-gavaged rats along with a nafenopin-induced rat pancreatic adenocarcinoma were examined for mutation of c-Ki-ras at codons 12, 13, and 61 by using the polymerase chain reaction. Our results indicate that activation of c-Ki-ras is not a common event during pancreatic carcinogenesis in the rat.