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 13,001 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The familial occurrence of head and neck cancers supports the role of heredity in this disease group. The roles of environmental and genetic factors are difficult to separate. There are several well-characterized entities, however, that are associated with risk and prognosis of head and neck cancer, including Lynch-II syndrome, Bloom syndrome, Fanconi's anemia, xeroderma pigmentosum, ataxia telangiectasia, and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Mutagen-induced chromosomal damage is associated with an increased risk of multiple primary neoplasms and upper aerodigestive tract cancers. A possible reduction of genotoxicity, mediated by micronutrients, was demonstrated in vitro. Sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei are useful exposure and disease markers. Metabolic changes (acetylation, DBQ phenotype, and the AH locus polymorphism) have been found to be associated with cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract. Most associations between histocompatibility antigens and solid tumors are relatively weak, probably because of the masking effects of environmental factors. Infections by HPV, EBV, and HSV have a causative or predisposing role in several types of head and neck cancer. Amplification and rearrangement of oncogenes may also play a role in carcinogenesis, and oncogene amplification may be associated with aggressive tumor behavior and unfavorable clinical prognosis. Ploidy of tumors seems to be an important determinant of survival and response to therapy.
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PMID:Hereditary and environmental factors associated with risk and progression of head and neck cancer. 140 93

Hereditary breast cancer is common and accounts for approximately 10-14% of all breast cancers. Knowledge of a family history of breast cancer may significantly influence diagnosis and therapy. Genetic heterogeneity has been demonstrated in familial breast cancer. Recently inherited mutations in the tumor suppressor gene p53, have been shown to be the underlying defect in the Li-Fraumeni syndrome. We have shown that defects in this gene also play a role in the predisposition to other familial breast cancers. The gene responsible for early onset familial breast and ovary cancer has recently been mapped to chromosome 17q21. For most of the sporadic breast cancers a multifactorial model, including variable genetic and environmental factors, has been considered. Two genetic risk factors which may predispose for a considerable portion of breast cancers are the gene causing ataxia telangiectasia (AT) and the gene that gives rise to proliferative breast disease (PBD). Identification of distinct genes enhancing the risk of breast cancer will give us the opportunity to identify high risk individuals. Such individuals may benefit from periodic examination affording the possibility of early diagnosis and treatment.
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PMID:Role of genetic factors in breast cancer susceptibility. 162 29

Cultured cells from patients inheriting the rare cancer-prone and radiotherapy-sensitive disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) exhibit anomalies in cell cycle control and protein kinase C (PKC)-mediated upregulation of p53 protein following exposure to ionizing radiation. It remains unclear, however, as to whether this irregularity in a p53-dependent signal transduction pathway controlling the G1/S checkpoint is causally linked to the most consistent molecular hallmark of A-T-namely, marked attenuation in the inhibition of replicative DNA synthesis at early times (< or = 2 h) after irradiation [radioresistant DNA synthesis (RDS)]. We report here that treatment of normal human fibroblast strains with inhibitors of calmodulin (CaM) (i.e. W7 and W13) and CaM-dependent protein kinases II and IV (i.e. KN62) prior to radiation exposure elicits an 'A-T-like' RDS phenotype, whereas treatment with PKC inhibitors (e.g. staurosporine) does not produce this response. Moreover, at 1 h post-gamma irradiation A-T fibroblasts undergo normal induction of p53 protein while exhibiting the RDS trait. At later times (e.g. 4 h) following irradiation, however, these A-T cells contain abnormally low levels of p53 protein, as do their lymphoblastoid cell line counterparts during the entire post-gamma ray incubation period. On the other hand, human cells which either lack the p53 gene completely (i.e. HL60 leukemia cells) or harbor a germline mutation in the gene (i.e. Li-Fraumeni syndrome cells) shut down their DNA replication machinery normally upon sustaining radiation damage. We thus conclude that the transitory delay in DNA synthesis routinely experienced by human cells in the face of radiation injury is mediated through a CaM-dependent regulatory cascade which involves neither PKC nor p53 protein. Accordingly, A-T cells appear to be malfunctional in at least two distinct radiation-responsive signalling pathways, one regulating the G1/S checkpoint and governed by p53 and PKC and another controlling passage through S phase and requiring CaM.
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PMID:Characterization of the signal transduction pathway mediating gamma ray-induced inhibition of DNA synthesis in human cells: indirect evidence for involvement of calmodulin but not protein kinase C nor p53. 747 84

The early events in the G2 checkpoint response to ionizing radiation (IR) were analyzed in diploid normal human fibroblasts (NHFs) and fibroblasts from patients with two heritable cancer syndromes. Exposure to gamma-radiation of asynchronously growing NHFs resulted in a rapid reduction in the number of cells in mitosis (G2 delay) and was accompanied by a quantitatively similar reduction in the p34CDC2/cyclin B in vitro histone H1 kinase activity as compared with sham-treated controls. This G2 delay was strong by 1 h following exposure to IR, maximal by 2 h, and was accompanied by an accumulation of tyrosine-phosphorylated p34CDC2 molecules. In contrast, fibroblasts from individuals with ataxia telangiectasia displayed significantly less reduction of the mitotic index or histone H1 kinase activity after IR. Low passage fibroblasts from individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome having one wild-type and one mutated p53 allele were similar to NHFs in their immediate G2 checkpoint response to IR, as were NHFs expressing the human papilloma virus type 16 E6 gene product (functionally inactivating p53) and low passage cells from p53-deficient mouse embryos. However, the p53-deficient fibroblasts were genomically unstable and became defective in their early G2 checkpoint response to IR. Furthermore, immortal Li-Fraumeni syndrome fibroblasts lacking wild-type p53 displayed an attenuated G2 checkpoint response. These results link the early events in G2 checkpoint response to IR in NHFs with a rapid inhibition of p34CDC2/cyclin B protein kinase activity and demonstrate that while not required for this immediate G2 delay, lack of p53 can lead to subsequent genetic alterations that result in defective G2 checkpoint function.
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PMID:Defective G2 checkpoint function in cells from individuals with familial cancer syndromes. 771 86

We describe molecular genetic findings in a patient who initially presented with an intermediate teratoma of the testis and who many years later presented with an oligodendro-astrocytoma. In addition he developed a malignant histiocytoma over the scapula, an adenocarcinoma of the stomach and a late stage adenoma of the sigmoid colon. Due to the development of several neoplasms the possibility of either ataxia telangiectasia or Li-Fraumeni syndrome was considered in differential diagnosis. A molecular genetic investigation revealed that both he and his brother carried a germline p53 tumor suppressor gene mutation at codon 248. From this result we conclude that this family belongs to the Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Once characterized as belonging to the Li-Fraumeni syndrome, the remaining members of the family were typed to determine if they too carried the same mutation. The two children of the index patient were shown not to carry the mutation and are therefore at no increased risk of developing any of the Li-Fraumeni spectrum of malignancies. A molecular genetic investigation into similar families could help to prevent the development of additional malignancies as seen in the index patient, as radiotherapy may interfere with the normal function of the p53 protein and this may in turn help to orchestrate DNA repair after radiation.
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PMID:[Hereditary p53 mutation in a patient with multiple tumors: significance for genetic counseling]. 839 84

Alterations of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene are present in various human malignancies and in the dominantly inherited Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Recently, a cell cycle checkpoint pathway involving p53 and GADD45 has been identified as defective in ataxia-telangiectasia. Using single strand conformation polymorphism analysis of PCR products, we looked for TP53 mutations in DNA of patients with AT. We did not find any mutation in 6 patients, suggesting that TP53 mutations are not directly involved in the cancer susceptibility observed in AT.
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PMID:Lack of mutations in the P53 gene exons 5 to 8 in ataxia-telangiectasia. 850 Jan 1

Approximately 20% of breast cancer patients have a family history of the disease, and in one-fourth of these cases breast cancer appears to be inherited as an autosomally dominant trait. Five genes and gene regions involved in breast cancer susceptibility have been uncovered. Germ-line mutations in the recently cloned BRCA1 gene at 17q21 is considered to be responsible for the disease in a majority of the breast-ovarian cancer families and in 40-45% of the site-specific breast cancer families, but appears not to be involved in families with both male and female breast cancer cases. The BRCA2 locus at 13q12-q13 appears to be involved in 40-45% of the site-specific breast cancer families, and in most of the families with affected males. The gene located in this region, however, does not seem to confer susceptibility to ovarian cancer. The TP53 gene is involved in breast cancer development in the Li-Fraumeni syndrome and Li-Fraumeni syndrom-like families, whereas germ-line mutations in the androgen receptor (AR) gene is present in a subset of male breast cancers. Furthermore, females who are obligate carriers of ataxia telangiectasia (AT) have a 4-12 times relative risk of developing breast cancer as compared with the general female population, indicating that germ-line mutations in AT also confer susceptibility to breast cancer.
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PMID:Genetic heterogeneity in breast cancer susceptibility. 869 52

Susceptibility to environmental carcinogenesis is the consequence of a complex interplay between intrinsic hereditary factors and actual exposures to potential carcinogenic agents. We must learn the nature of these interactions as well as the genetic defects that confer enhanced risk. In some genetic diseases an increased cancer risk correlates with a defect in the repair or replications of damaged DNA. Examples include xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), ataxia telangiectasia, Fanconi's anemia, and Bloom's syndrome. In Cockayne's syndrome the Specific defect in transcription-coupled repair (TCR) does not predispose the patients to the sunlight-induced skin cancer characteristic of XP. The demonstration of TCR in the XP129 partial revertant of XP-A cells indicates that ultraviolet (UV) resistance correlates with repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in active genes. Repair measured as an average over the genome can be misleading, and it is necessary to consider genomic locations of DNA damage and repair for a meaningful assessment of the biological importance of particular DNA lesions. Mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene are found in many human tumors. TCR accounts for the resulting mutational spectra in the p53 gene in certain tumors. Li-Fraumeni syndrome fibroblasts expressing only mutant p53 are more UV-resistant and exhibit less UV-induced apoptosis than normal human cells or heterozygotes for mutations in only one allele of p53. The p53-defective cells are deficient in global excision repair capacity but have retained TCR. The loss of p53 function may lead to greater genomic instability by reducing the efficiency of global DNA repair while cellular resistance may be assured through the operation of TCR and the elimination of apoptosis.
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PMID:Role of transcription-coupled DNA repair in susceptibility to environmental carcinogenesis. 878 81

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women in the U.S. The risk factors for developing breast cancer include increasing age, a family history of breast cancer, and the lack of a child by age 30. A substantial fraction of breast cancer, however, occurs in women who have no identifiable risk factors. The diagnosis, pathology, treatment, and presymptomatic testing of cancer susceptibility genes are reviewed. Syndromes with an associated risk of breast cancer are described, such as hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome, Li-Fraumeni syndrome, ataxia telangiectasia, and Cowden's disease. With the localization of the BRCA1 gene to chromosome 17q21 and the BRCA2 gene to chromosome 13q12, issues surrounding breast cancer susceptibility genetic testing are assuming an ever greater measure of importance. The sensitivity and specificity for molecular testing of cancer susceptibility genes, however, have not been well defined. The progress in presymptomatic genetic testing is further hampered by various factors such as the technical difficulty in distinguishing mutations from polymorphisms, the number of different mutations identified thus far and the possibility of false positive and false negative results. Laboratory quality assurance/quality control issues are of paramount importance to avoid misleading interpretations. Many issues surrounding genetic screening and testing, such as insurance and employment discrimination, privacy, and informed consent, are under active debate, and guidelines and standards are under active development. It is therefore important to proceed with caution, so that irreversible harm resulting from data misinterpretation can be avoided.
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PMID:Clinical and research issues in breast cancer genetics. 887 57

Ataxia-telangiectasia and Li-Fraumeni syndrome, pleiotropic disorders caused by mutations in the genes atm and p53, share a marked increase in cancer rates. A number of studies have argued for an interaction between these two genes (for comprehensive reviews, see M. S. Meyn, Cancer Res., 55: 5991-6001, 1995, and M. F. Lavin and Y. Shiloh, Annu. Rev., Immunol., 15: 177-202, 1996). Specifically, atm is placed upstream of p53 in mediating G1-S cell cycle checkpoint control, and both atm and p53 are believed to influence cellular proliferation. To analyze the genetic interactions of atm and p53, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) homozygously deficient for both atm and p53 were used to assess cell cycle and growth control. These double-null fibroblasts proliferate rapidly and fail to exhibit the premature growth arrest seen with atm-null MEFs. MEFs null for both atm and p53 do not express any p21(cipl/wafl), showing that p53 is required for p21(cipl/wafl) expression in an atm-null background. By contrast, homozygous loss of either atm, p53, or both results in similar abnormalities of the irradiation-induced G1-S cell cycle checkpoint. Our results suggest two separate pathways of interaction between atm and p53, one linear, involving G1-S cell cycle control, and another more complex, involving aspects of growth regulation.
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PMID:Genetic interactions between atm and p53 influence cellular proliferation and irradiation-induced cell cycle checkpoints. 913 4


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