Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0677930 (primary tumor)
 20,210 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The activin type II receptorgene (ACTRII) is mutated in 58.1% of microsatellite-unstable (MSI-H) colorectal cancers and is a close relative of the TGFbeta-1 type II receptor, which is known to be involved in both MSI-H and non-MSI-H colorectal carcinogenesis. We therefore sought to determine whether ACTRII was involved in non-MSI-H colorectal cancers. We evaluated ACTRII inactivation by allelic deletion, loss of mRNA expression, or somatic mutation in 51 non-MSI-H colon cancers. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at the ACTRII locus (2q23.1) was found in 9 (17.6%) of 51 primary tumors. Loss of ACTRII mRNA expression was seen in one (14.3%) of the seven LOH-positive primary tumors from which total RNA was available. We also performed DNA sequencing analysis of tumors showing LOH. One LOH-positive primary tumor exhibited a novel germline missense sequence alteration (amino acid substitution, 117 Ile to Phe) that was not found in 23 additional normal individuals, implying that this alteration is not a frequent polymorphism. We conclude that ACTRII is probably involved in both non-MSI-H and MSI-H colorectal carcinogenesis, but more frequently in the latter subgroup.
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PMID:Loss of heterozygosity and mutational analyses of the ACTRII gene locus in human colorectal tumors. 1469 5

The methylation pattern in the promoter region of p16, DAPK, MGMT and GSTP1 genes was investigated in oral cancer tissues and tumor associated adjacent tissues, using methylation specific PCR assay. The samples constituted 60 primary oral tumors and corresponding adjacent clinically and histopathologically normal mucosa, and buccal epithelial scrapings from 20 normal healthy individuals without any tobacco habits. The incidence of hypermethylation in oral tumor and adjacent mucosa for p16 gene was 66.7 and 50%, for DAPK was 68.3 and 60%, and MGMT gene was 51.7 and 26.7%, respectively. The overall hypermethylation in the three genes in the primary tumor was 86.7%, and corresponding adjacent normal mucosa tissues 76.7%. Hypermethylation was not observed in the promoter region of GSTP1 gene in either the primary tumors or the corresponding adjacent normal mucosa. Absence of aberrant methylation in the four genes was noted in buccal scrapings from normal healthy individuals with no tobacco habits. Thus, a high frequency of promoter region hypermethylation was observed in p16, DAPK and MGMT genes in oral cancer tissues as well as in corresponding adjacent normal mucosa. Our results indicate that epigenetic alteration of these genes is a frequent event in oral cancer, and is an early event observed in normal oral mucosa of the patients, indicating the critical importance of the epigenetic alteration in chewing tobacco associated oral carcinogenesis.
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PMID:Concurrent hypermethylation of multiple regulatory genes in chewing tobacco associated oral squamous cell carcinomas and adjacent normal tissues. 1469 37

Transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) is a multifunctional polypeptide. Its role in carcinogenesis can be either suppressive or promoting depending on tumor developmental stages and cellular context. During the early phase of epithelial tumorigenesis, TGFbeta inhibits primary tumor development and growth by inducing cell cycle arrest and possibly apoptosis. However, in late stages of progression, as tumor cells evade the growth inhibition by TGFbeta due to inactivation of its signaling pathway or aberrant regulation of cell cycle machinery, the role of TGFbeta signaling is often switched from tumor suppression to promotion. TGFbeta can apparently act in tumor stroma as well as tumor cells to inhibit host immune surveillance and stimulate invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis. Studies have shown that antagonizing TGFbeta activity can inhibit tumor progression, especially metastasis, in certain tumor models. However, the molecular markers that can indicate the feasibility of the use of TGFbeta antagonists as cancer therapeutics remain to be determined.
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PMID:Tumor-suppressive and promoting function of transforming growth factor beta. 1497 98

The use of radiosurgery Gamma-knife for many benign tumors and diseases has increased significantly over the last two decades. The long-term potential carcinogenic risk has not been evaluated until recently. The definition of radio-induced tumors was based on Cahan's criteria: it must occur in the previously irradiated field, with a sufficiently long interval from irradiation, it must be pathologically different from the primary tumor, not be present at time of irradiation and no genetic predisposition for second tumor. The brain is one of most sensitive tIssues and no minimal dose has been established. Even doses as low as 1 Gy have been associated with second tumor formation and relative risk between 1.57 and 8.75. This relative risk increases to 18.4 for an interval time between 20 and 25 Years. Many publications emphaze the risks after larger-field, fractionated radiotherapy with low non-cell-killing dose delivered to central nervous system. Furthermore, therapeutic radiation doses for benign tumors associated with a long life (parasellar tumors, meningioma) were implicated in carcinogenesis. Incidence of radiation-associated tumors is linked to different factors such as age and individual genetic susceptibility. At this time and to our knowledge, 3 radiation-associated gliomas and 5 malignant acoustic neurinomas have been reported in the literature. Moreover, these second tumors met some but not all Cahan criteria. We also report 2 cases from our radiosurgical experience and discuss these points. Long time follow-up is needed to observe the crude incidence of radiation-induced tumors at 5 to 30 Years. The relative risk is estimated less than 1 and must be announced to each patient before the radiosurgical procedure and counterbalanced wit the 1% annual risk of mortality from bleeding of untreated MAV or the 1% mortality rate of benign tumors after surgery alone.
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PMID:[Radiosurgery and brain radio-induced carcinogenesis: update]. 1517 97

Large, randomized trials have been conducted in the primary prevention of lung cancer using micronutrients or derivative agents for which epidemiological data suggested a potential role in lung cancer prevention. The disappointing primary prevention trials of beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, and retinyl palmitate have led to the development of a more compact, biomarker-driven series of translational trials of lung cancer prevention that target reversal of premalignancy as the primary end point. Serial trials of 13-cis-retinoic acid (isotretinoin) and other retinoids have failed to show a difference in reversal of premalignancy in active smokers or in second primary tumor prevention. However, a trial of 9-cis-retinoic acid, a pan retinoid/rexinoid agonist, showed up-regulation of retinoic acid receptor beta (RAR-beta), a potentially important intermediate marker of response in lung cancer premalignancy. Other planned or ongoing trials currently target important molecular markers of lung carcinogenesis and progression including cyclooxygenase-2, the ras-signaling pathway through farnesyl transferase inhibitors, and the tyrosine kinase/epidermal growth factor receptor pathway (gefitinib, erlotinib). Early results of bioadjuvant trials in head and neck cancer suggest that combination chemoprevention will ultimately be an important option.
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PMID:Molecularly targeted approaches to the chemoprevention of lung cancer. 1521 68

The Rho family of GTPases are involved in actin cytoskeleton organization and associated with carcinogenesis and progression of human cancers. We investigated the roles of Rho family GTPases, prototypes RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42, and the major downstream targets of RhoA, ROCK-I, and ROCK-II in testicular cancer. We quantified protein expression in paired tumor and nontumor samples from surgical specimens from 57 consecutive patients with testicular germ cell tumors using Western blotting. Protein expression of RhoA, ROCK-I, ROCK-II, Rac1, and Cdc42 was significantly higher in tumor tissue than in nontumor tissue (P < 0.0001). Expression of protein for RhoA, ROCK-I, ROCK-II, Rac1, and Cdc42 was greater in tumors of higher stages than lower stages (P < 0.0001, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P < 0.0001, P < 0.0001, respectively). Within stage II nonseminoma (31 patients), protein levels of RhoA, ROCK-I, ROCK-II, Rac1, and Cdc42 in the primary tumor were lower in the group of 24 patients with no evidence of disease after therapy compared with 7 patients with disease that was refractory/recurrent (P < 0.05). Rho family GTPases may be involved in the progression of testicular germ cell tumors.
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PMID:Overexpression of RhoA, Rac1, and Cdc42 GTPases is associated with progression in testicular cancer. 1526 55

The SMARCA4/BRG1 gene product is a component of the SWI-SNF chromatin-remodeling complex and regulates gene expression by disrupting histone-DNA contacts in an ATP-dependent manner. Inactivating mutations of the SMARCA4 gene, on chromosome arm 19p, are present in several human cancer cell lines, including cell lines derived from lung cancers. Interestingly, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 19p and absence of the SMARCA4 protein have been reported in lung tumors. To evaluate further the possible contribution of SMARCA4 gene inactivation to lung carcinogenesis, we performed a complete analysis of the SMARCA4 gene to search for (a) point mutations in all 35 coding exons, including an existing splicing variant and the intron-exon boundaries, and (b) abrogation of gene expression through promoter hypermethylation by using the methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) assay. We selected genomic DNA from 20 lung primary tumors with LOH on 19p for the screening of point mutations and 10 lung cancer cell lines and 52 lung primary tumors for the MSP analysis. Through our mutational screening, we identified an in-frame and germ-line insertion of 24 bp in exon 4 whose biological relevance is unknown. This variant was not detected in the germ line of the 62 additional individuals analyzed, indicating it is not a common polymorphism. Moreover, two missense alterations were identified in the tumors of 2 patients, a somatic Gly1160Arg mutation and a Ser1176Cys mutation. Neither was present in the germ line of the 51 additional lung cancer individuals tested. Because these mutations lead to substitution of highly conserved amino acids, they may affect the ATPase function of the protein. Finally, no promoter hypermethylation was observed in any lung primary tumor or cancer cell line, indicating that this is not a major mechanism for SMARCA4 inactivation during lung carcinogenesis. In conclusion, our data revealed that somatic point mutations of the SMARCA4 gene are present in a small subset of lung tumors, although mutations affecting the ATPase domain may be a hot-spot for SMARCA4 gene inactivation. We cannot rule out that other mechanisms, such as complete or partial deletions of the SMARCA4 gene, are contributing to the loss of the SMARCA4 protein in lung cancer.
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PMID:Genetic and epigenetic screening for gene alterations of the chromatin-remodeling factor, SMARCA4/BRG1, in lung tumors. 1528 30

Dissemination of neoplastic cells from the primary tumor (invasion and metastasis) is a fundamentally dangerous step in multistage carcinogenesis. Recent evidence suggests that Rho GTPase-mediated signaling is linked to dissemination of cells from several different types of human tumors. The Rho family of proteins is typically associated with the regulation of cytoskeletal activity, including actin assembly, microtubule dynamics, and myosin II-dependent contractility of the actin-rich cortex. We examined the effect of overexpression of constitutively active RhoA on islands and monolayers of epithelial cells. Although newly plated cells initially formed small spread islands, there was also a significant population of cells that detached from the substrate, floated in the medium, and then could reattach to the substrate to form new colonies. Detachment of cells from transfected epithelial islands or monolayers occurred in correlation to the plane of cytokinesis after misorientation of the mitotic spindle axis. We suggest that these alterations result from Rho-induced increase of contractility of the cortex of dividing cells, which, during cytokinesis, produces a cell that has budded out of an existing layer of cells. Cell division-mediated detachment of cells from tissue structures may be an important mechanism of tumor dissemination and metastasis.
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PMID:Rho overexpression leads to mitosis-associated detachment of cells from epithelial sheets: a link to the mechanism of cancer dissemination. 1530 43

Metastasis, the spread of a tumor from its primary site to other parts of the body, continues to be the most significant problem in the field of cancer. Patients who present with metastatic disease or those who develop metastases after successful management of the primary tumor carry a universally grave prognosis. To improve treatment outcomes for these patients a broader understanding of the biology of metastases is necessary. The biological complexity that characterizes metastasis requires complex experimental systems for its study. To a large extent the modeling of this biological complexity is only possible using animal models. The following review will summarize the strengths and weaknesses of available in vivo models of metastasis including transplantable syngeneic mouse and human-mouse xenografts, genetically engineered mice and naturally occurring cancers of companion animals (pet dogs and cats). No single metastasis model is sufficient to answer all questions. As such, the selection of the optimal model(s) for each biological or translational question is necessary.
Carcinogenesis 2005 Mar
PMID:Modeling metastasis in vivo. 1535 32

Understanding of molecular genetic mechanisms underlying prostate carcinogenesis would be greatly advanced by in vitro models of prostate tumors representing primary tumors. We have successfully established a neoplastic immortalized human prostate epithelial (HPE) clonal culture derived from a primary tumor of a prostate cancer patient (RC-58T) with hTERT, the catalytic subunit of telomerase. The early passage RC-58T cells derived from a radical prostatectomy specimen of a 52-year-old white male patient was transduced through infection with a retrovirus vector expressing the hTERT for the establishment of the RC-58T/hTERT cell line. One clonal line, soft-agar derived from the RC-58T/hTERT cell line, was isolated and further characterized phenotypically and genetically. These clonal (RC-58T/hTERT SA#4) cells are currently growing well at passage 70 and exhibit transformed morphology. The RC-58T/hTERT SA#4 line expressed a high level of telomerase activity and showed anchorage-independent growth in soft agar. The clonal line like the untransduced RC-58T cells (passage 3) expressed prostate specific antigen (PSA), androgen receptor (AR), prostate stem cell antigen (PSCA), and an androgen-regulated prostate specific gene NKX3.1, P16, and cytokeratin (CK) 8. Growth is slightly stimulated by dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and lyates are immunoreactive with AR antibody by Western blot analysis. More importantly, this clonal line produced adenocarcinomas when transplanted into SCID mice. A number of chromosome alterations were observed including the loss of chromosome Y, 1q, 2p, 3p, 4q, 8p, 11p, 14p, 17p and 18q. Our results demonstrate that this primary tumor-derived HPE cell line retained its neoplastic phenotypes and its prostate specific markers and should allow elucidating molecular and genetic alterations involved in prostate cancer. This is the first documented case of an AR and PSA expressing telomerase established human prostate cancer cell line with neoplastic phenotypes from a primary tumor of a prostate cancer patient.
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PMID:A telomerase-immortalized primary human prostate cancer clonal cell line with neoplastic phenotypes. 1537 56


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