Progranulin autoantibodies and genetic variation in patients with cholangiocarcinoma

Background: Recently, the novel growth factor and TNF signalling adaptor progranulin (PGRN) has been implicated in the inflammation-driven pathogenesis of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA).(1,2) Neutralizing PGRN autoantibodies have been described in autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).(3,4) Therefore, our aim now was to assess PGRN autoantibody incidence and potential effects of the common PGRN gene variant rs5848 (known to be associated with reduced PGRN serum concentrations) on susceptibility and PGRN autoantibody formation in a large European CCA population.(5) Patients & Methods: Overall,…