Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P04626 (erbB-2)
 5,251 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Pancreatic cancer has a very poor prognosis and is a common cause of cancer death in the Western world. Certain genetic alterations may be important in the prognosis of pancreatic cancer. Activation mutations in the K- ras oncogene occur in around 90% of pancreatic cancers, and the overexpression of growth factors epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor (TGF)alpha, TGFbetas 1-3, acidic fibroblast growth factor (aFGF), basic FGF (bFGF), and growth factor receptors c-erbB-2 and -3 and TGFRbetas 1-3 is common. High mutation levels of cell cycle control genes such as p53, p16, p21, SMAD4, and cyclin D1 are found, and there is abnormal expression of apoptotic genes, such as bcl-2, bcl-XL, and bax. The expression of several of these growth factors and their receptors has been found to be associated with poorly differentiated tumors of an advanced stage and decreased survival. However, the inactivation and loss of expression of p16, p53, and p21, and the expression of several apoptotic genes, such as bax and bcl-2, have not been found to be of any prognostic significance. The expression of wild type p53, however, may predict responsiveness to chemotherapy. TGFbeta1 expression has been shown to be associated with longer survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. Two studies (including our own) have found bcl-XL expression to be significantly associated with poor survival. These and newer molecular markers may prove to be important in the choice of future therapies for pancreatic cancer.
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PMID:Molecular prognostic markers in pancreatic cancer. 1202 93

Our report describes a 66-yr-old man who underwent surgical resection of the pancreas twice within a period of 3 yr for primary and recurrent intraductal papillary mucinous tumors (IPMTs). During the second operation, a minute invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) was accidentally discovered in the resected specimen of the residual pancreas. The similarity and continuity between this IDC and recurrent IPMT were not recognized histologically. A solid tumor was found in the hepatoduodenal ligament 3 mo after the second operation. We performed a third operation, performing laparotomy and intra-operative radiotherapy, but could not extirpate the tumor. A biopsy specimen obtained from the tumor during this third operation revealed adenocarcinoma, and the patient later died because of tumor progression. We immunohistochemically analyzed the expression of HER-2/neu, Smad4, p16, p21, p53, mucin immunophenotypes and the Ki-67 labeling index in this series of pancreatic-duct neoplasias. Overexpression of HER-2/neu and loss of Smad4 were detected in the minute IDC, which was very different from the immunohistochemical features of both the primary and recurrent IPMTs. The IDC also showed a MUC1-positive/MUC2-negative phenotype. Therefore, we suggest that de novo IDC may occur in IPMT patients, especially those with multiple tumor recurrence. The present case may be helpful in understanding the pathogenesis of pancreatic duct lesions.
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PMID:Minute invasive ductal carcinoma of the residual pancreas after distal pancreatectomy for intraductal papillary-mucinous tumor. 1262 31

Trophoblast differentiation is a key event in human placental development. During extravillous trophoblast (EVT) differentiation, stem cells from the anchoring villi detach from their basement membrane and proliferate to form aggregates called trophoblast cell columns (TCCs). They subsequently invade the decidua and differentiate into interstitial and endovascular trophoblasts. The influence of the decidua on EVT differentiation is controversial. We therefore compared the pattern of trophoblast differentiation marker expression in viable intrauterine and tubal pregnancies, as decidual cell markers (prolactin [PRL] and insulin-like growth factor binding Protein-1 [IGFBP1]) were only expressed in endometrial implantation sites. Extravillous trophoblast differentiation in anchoring villi from uterine and ectopic pregnancies exhibited a comparable phenotypical switch: alpha6 integrin subunit, E-cadherin, EGF receptor, Ki 67 and connexin 40 were localized in the proximal part of the TCC, while alpha5beta1 and alpha1 integrins, c-erb B2, hPL and HLA-G were expressed by invasive cytotrophoblasts. The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors p16 and p57 were mainly detected in invasive cytotrophoblasts some distance from the columns. However, the TCC was markedly longer in tubal pregnancy than in intrauterine pregnancy. These findings suggest that the decidua is not necessary to trigger EVT invasion, but that it is likely to limit the extent of the TCC and to accelerate the onset of EVT migration.
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PMID:Evidence of a limited contribution of feto-maternal interactions to trophoblast differentiation along the invasive pathway. 1288 91

Information on oncogenetic events accompanying salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma is so far limited. Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases ERK-1 and ERK-2 is strongly correlated to cancer. Using an antibody specific for phosphorylated (active) ERK-1/ERK-2, we examined human salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma samples by immunohistochemistry. The comparison in paired tumor and normal tissue samples showed that phosphorylated ERK-1/ERK-2 immunoreactivity was higher in tumor cells as compared to surrounding normal salivary parenchyma. ERK-1/ERK-2 phosphorylation was observed in approximately 39% of mucoepidermoid carcinomas. Those tumors where the ERK-1/ERK-2 pathway was activated had a more aggressive tumor behavior as compared to the group where this pathway was inactive. The association of ERK-1/ERK-2 phosphorylation to a worse prognosis was independent of histological grade. ERK-1/ERK-2 phosphorylation was associated with increased Ki67 and cyclin A indexes, which indicated that ERK-1/ERK-2 pathway activation increased tumor cell proliferation. There was no relationship between ERK-1/ERK-2 phosphorylation and HER-2/neu or p16/INK4a protein expression. In conclusion, ERK-1/ERK-2 pathway is active in salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma and this activation is associated to a more aggressive tumor behavior and a higher proliferative activity. These data suggest that deregulation of ERK-1/ERK-2 pathway contributes to mucoepidermoid carcinoma phenotype and, possibly, represents a target for new anticancer drugs.
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PMID:Extra-cellular signal-regulated ERK-1/ERK-2 pathway activation in human salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma: association to aggressive tumor behavior and tumor cell proliferation. 1293 36

A significant component of the general surgeon's practice is treatment of cancer that most commonly involves breast, colorectal, pancreas, and hepatic surgeries. The prognosis for these patients is largely dependent upon the stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. There is convincing evidence that the induction and progression of cancer occurs when the function of genes that regulate cell proliferation, cell death and DNA repair becomes altered. These molecular disturbances result from ongoing, tumor-promoting activity long before symptoms of the disease become apparent. The role of many genes and the extent of their involvement in this deleterious, molecular process is unique to the organ. However, the tumor suppressor genes p53 and p16, the oncogene c-myc, and the inflammation-associated enzyme COX-2 are implicated in all four of the tumors. The roles of the oncogenes ras and HER-2/erbB-2/neu are significant in all of the tumors except hepatocellular carcinoma. The systematic establishment of a comprehensive data base relating gene expression activity to the initiation and development of cancer will provide molecular markers for detection and targets for treatment. This overview presents the current status of information associating gene expression activity with cancers typically encountered by general surgeons.
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PMID:Gene activity associated with cancers treated by surgical oncologists. 1461 4

A large number of data derived from molecular analyses support the hypothesis that human cancer is a genetic disease and a distinct subset of genes have been found to be genetically changed in most tumors. Molecular alterations in pancreatic cancer include: (1) oncogenes such as K-ras, c-myc, c-fos, and c-erbB-2; (2) tumor suppressor genes such as p53, p16, DPC4/SMAD4, and DCC; and (3) growth factors such as EGF, FGF, HGF, PDGF, VEGF, TGF-beta. Genetic alterations of K-ras and p53 are common in human pancreatic cancer, but the occurrence of pancreatic cancer is a multi-step phenomenon in which the accumulation of genetic changes is extremely important.
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PMID:[Recent advances in gene change of pancreatic cancer]. 1505 82

Identification of biomarkers is one of the most promising approaches for the detection of early malignant or even premalignant lesions with the chance of diagnosing early stages of non-small cell lung cancer that could be treated curatively. Alterations of chromosomes (3p, 5q, 9p), genes (Rb, C-myc, C-mos, hTERT), proteins (p16, p53, K-ras, hnRNP A2/B1, MCM2, EGFR, erbB-2, erbB-3, erbB-4) and others can be found in lung cancer. Some of these occur at early stages of the disease and few could serve as potential screening markers. The actual literature is reviewed and the relevance of the different biomarkers for early lung cancer detection is discussed.
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PMID:Biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer prevention. 1545 56

Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition and remains the number one risk factor for developing adenocarcinoma. Gastro-esophageal reflux disease is a strong risk factor for both esophageal adenocarcinoma and the precancerous lesion Barrett's esophagus. Both of these conditions are related to the reflux of acid and bile into the esophagus. This results in inflammation and cell damage which initiates a sequence of events termed the metaplasia-dysplasia sequence in which the squamous epithelium is replaced by columnar epithelium exhibiting increasing degrees of dysplasia and overt malignancy. The underlying disease mechanisms remain unclear, but tumor suppression genes (p53, p16, APC) and, oncogenes (K-ras, cyclin D1, c-erb-2) seem to cause the malignant transformation of Barrett's esophagus, and the genetic or epigenetic alterations of these genes have been reported.
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PMID:[Carcinogenesis of Barrett's esophagus]. 1610 Dec 21

Most pancreatic neoplasia are of ductal lineage, characterized by tubule (gland), cyst, papilla, or mucin formation and expression of mucin-related glycoproteins and oncoproteins (eg, MUC1, CA19-9, CEA, DUPAN), as well as some subsets of cytokeratin (eg, CK19). Mutations of k-ras oncogene and DPC4 are also common in ductal neoplasia and generally not seen in nonductal tumors. A variety of pancreatic neoplasia fall under the heading of ductal neoplasia. Invasive ductal adenocarcinoma (DA) is the most important and constitutes the vast majority (>85%) of pancreatic tumors. DA is characterized by insidious infiltration and rapid dissemination, despite its relatively well-differentiated histologic appearance. In some variants of DA such as undifferentiated or sarcomatoid, evidence of ductal differentiation may be lacking or only focal. The presumed precursors of DA are microscopic intraductal proliferative changes that are now termed pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN). PanINs comprise a neoplastic transformation ranging from early mucinous change (PanIN-1A) to frank CIS (PanIN-3). A similar (in situ) neoplastic spectrum also characterizes intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms and mucinous cystic neoplasms, which are cystic ductal-mucinous tumors with varying degrees of papilla formation, and may be associated with invasive carcinoma. As such, these can be regarded as mass-forming preinvasive neoplasia. Some intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms are associated with invasive carcinoma of the colloid type. Colloid carcinoma of the pancreas appears to be a clinicopathologically distinct tumor with indolent behavior. Whereas most ductal pancreatic neoplasia are characterized by some degree of mucin formation, serous tumors, of which serous (microcystic) adenoma is the sole example, lack mucin formation, presumably because they recapitulate centroacinar ducts. They are typically benign tumors. It is recognized now that pancreatic carcinoma, like other malignant processes, is a genetic disease produced by progressive mutations in cancer-related genes. These alterations can be categorized as "early" such as k-ras mutation, HER-2/neu, PSCA, MUC5, and fascin overexpression; "intermediate" such as p16 inactivation, MUC1, and cyclin D1 overexpression; and finally as "late" such as p53 and DPC4 inactivation, BRCA2 mutation, and overexpression of ki-67, 14-3-3sigma, and mesothelin. Ductal neoplasia is the most important category among pancreatic tumors. It is important to appreciate the different types of ductal tumors because they vary greatly in their clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms of ductal carcinogenesis will help develop more efficient prevention and therapy of these tumors.
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PMID:Ductal neoplasia of the pancreas: nosologic, clinicopathologic, and biologic aspects. 1618 79

Transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder is a common tumor. While most patients presenting superficial disease can be expected to do well following treatment, still many patients will return to our office with muscle invasive and metastatic disease. Survival in advanced bladder cancer is less than 50%. Tumors of similar histologic grade and stage have variable behavior, suggesting that genetic alterations must be present to explain the diverse behavior of bladder cancer. It is hoped that through the study of the subtle genetic alterations in bladder cancer, important prognostic and therapeutic targets can be exploited. Many new diagnostic tests and gene therapy approaches rely on the identification and targeting of these unique genetic alterations. A review of literature published on the molecular genetics of bladder cancer from 1970 to the present was conducted. A variety of molecular genetic alterations have been identified in bladder cancer. Oncogenes (H-ras, erbB-2, EGFR, MDM2, C-MYC, CCND1), tumor suppressor genes (p53, Rb, p21, p27/KIP1, p16, PTEN, STK15, FHIT, FEZ1/LZTS1, bc10), telomerase, and methylation have all been studied in bladder cancer. Several have proven to be potentially useful clinical targets in the prognosis and therapy of bladder cancer such as staining for p53 and gene therapy strategies such as p53 and fez1. Clinical trials targeting HER2/neu and the EGFR pathways are underway. The UroVysion bladder cancer assay relies on FISH to detect genetic alterations in this disease. Continuing identification of the molecular genetic alterations in bladder cancer will enhance future diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to bladder cancer. Capitalizing on these alterations will allow early detection, providing important prognostic information and unique targets for gene therapy and other therapeutic approaches.
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PMID:Molecular genetics of bladder cancer: targets for diagnosis and therapy. 1691 24


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