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Query: UMLS:C0699790 (colon cancer)
 28,837 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Colorectal cancer affected approximately 135,000 people in the United States in 2001, resulting in 57,000 deaths. At the cellular level, colorectal cancer results from the progressive accumulation of genetic and epigenetic alterations that lead to the transformation of normal colonic epithelial cells to colon adenocarcinoma cells. The loss of genomic stability appears to be a key molecular and pathogenetic step that occurs early in the tumorigenesis process and serves to create a permissive environment for the occurrence of alterations in tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes. At least three forms of genomic instability have been identified in colon cancer: (1) microsatellite instability (MSI), (2) chromosome instability (i.e. aneusomy, gains and losses of chromosomal regions) (CIN), and (3) chromosomal translocations. Microsatellite instability occurs in approximately 15% of colon cancers and results from inactivation of the mutation mismatch repair (MMR) system by either MMR gene mutations or hypermethylation of the MLH1 promoter. MSI promotes tumorigenesis through generating mutations in target genes that possess coding microsatellite repeats, such as TGFBR2 and BAX. CIN is found in the majority of colon cancers and leads to a different pattern of gene alterations that contribute to tumor formation. CIN appears to result primarily from deregulation of the DNA replication checkpoints and mitotic-spindle checkpoints. The mechanisms that induce and influence genomic instability in cancer in general and more specifically in colon cancer are only partly understood and are consequently under intense investigation. These studies have revealed mutation of the mitotic checkpoint regulators BUB1 and BUBR1 and amplification of STK15 in a subset of CIN colon cancers. The etiology of CIN in the other unexplained cases of colon cancer remains to be determined. Hopefully, discovery of the cause and specific role of genomic instability in colon cancer will yield more effective chemotherapy strategies that take advantage of this unique characteristic of cancer cells.
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PMID:Genomic instability and colon cancer. 1500 Jan 46

This article reviews the main molecular alterations involved in endometrial carcinoma. Five molecular features (microsatellite instability, and mutations in the PTEN, k-RAS, PIK3CA and beta-catenin genes) are characteristic of endometrioid carcinomas, whereas non-endometrioid carcinomas show alterations of p53, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on several chromosomes, as well as other molecular alterations (STK15, p16, E-cadherin and C-erb B2). The review also covers the phenomenon of apoptosis resistance, as well as the results obtained from cDNA array studies, and the perspectives for targeted therapies. A group of practical applications of molecular pathology techniques are also mentioned: diagnosis of hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer syndrome in patients with endometrial carcinoma; evaluation of precursor lesions; prognosis; diagnosis, particularly for synchronous endometrioid carcinomas of the uterus and the ovaries; and targeted therapies.
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PMID:Molecular pathology of endometrial carcinoma: practical aspects from the diagnostic and therapeutic viewpoints. 1897 6

AURKA (the official symbol for Aurora-A, STK15, or BTAK) regulates the function of centrosomes, spindles, and kinetochores for proper mitotic progression. AURKA overexpression is observed in various cancers including colon cancer, and a link between AURKA and chromosomal instability (CIN) has been proposed. However, no study has comprehensively examined AURKA expression in relation to CIN or prognosis using a large number of tumors. Using 517 colorectal cancers in two prospective cohort studies, we detected AURKA overexpression (by immunohistochemistry) in 98 tumors (19%). We assessed other molecular events including loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in 2p, 5q, 17q, and 18q, the CpG island methylation phenotype (CIMP), and microsatellite instability (MSI). Prognostic significance of AURKA was evaluated by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier method. In both univariate and multivariate logistic regressions, AURKA overexpression was significantly associated with CIN (defined as the presence of LOH in any of the chromosomal segments; multivariate odds ratio, 2.97; 95% confidence interval, 1.40-6.29; P = .0045). In multivariate analysis, AURKA was associated with cyclin D1 expression (P = .010) and inversely with PIK3CA mutation (P=.014), fatty acid synthase expression (P=.028), and family history of colorectal cancer (P = .050), but not with sex, age, body mass index, tumor location, stage, CIMP, MSI, KRAS, BRAF, BMI, LINE-1 hypomethylation, p53, p21, beta-catenin, or cyclooxygenase 2. AURKA was not significantly associated with clinical outcome or survival. In conclusion, AURKA overexpression is independently associated with CIN in colorectal cancer, supporting a potential role of Aurora kinase-A in colorectal carcinogenesis through genomic instability (rather than epigenomic instability).
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PMID:Aurora-A expression is independently associated with chromosomal instability in colorectal cancer. 1941 26