Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UNIPROT:P43146 (tumour suppressor)
 5,935 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

As yet, few molecular markers are available that are likely to be useful in predicting the metastatic potential of prostate cancer cancer cells. The need for such "progression markers" is indicated by the expectation that more localized cancers (ie stage A-2, B-1,2) will be clinically diagnosed in the near future, owing to improvements in diagnostic techniques (eg transrectal ultrasound) and the screening of population groups at risk (males over 50 years old). Few model systems are available for such studies. Animal models are unsuitable for the isolation of monoclonal antibodies that detect epitopes associated with the progression of prostate cancer. Since few cell lines are available, an approach using primary cancer tissue should be undertaken. For the differential hybridization approach described here, the choice of species presents no difficulty, since many DNA sequences are conserved between species. However, no model system fully represents the human situation. Hence, differential hybridization studies using primary prostate cancer tissue need to be considered. Moreover, the group of genes/proteins with potential relevance for cancer progression (eg oncogenes, tumour suppressor genes, genes encoding cell adhesion molecules or growth factors) has not been studied extensively in prostate cancer. Because of the intrinsic heterogeneity of prostate tumours, the use of pathologically defined tissue sections is imperative for a reliable study. This could be achieved either by in situ techniques (whereby tissue morphology is conserved) or by step sectioning. The difficulties associated with the small amount of material obtained from such sections can be overcome by the use of techniques based on the polymerase chain reaction. Taking these considerations into account, a systematic screening of prostate cancer with probes representing the above mentioned genes should be undertaken.
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PMID:Molecular methods for predicting the metastatic potential of prostate cancer. 172 88

p53 tumour suppressor gene expression was estimated immunohistochemically using DO-1 monoclonal antibody (recognising both wild-type and mutant p53 in 88 human renal tumours. Single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of possible mutations within exons 4-8 of the p53 gene was performed in 29 of the tumours (mostly immunostaining-positive cases). Obviously elevated p53 content was detected with DO-1 antibody in chromophobic cell carcinomas and most clear/chromophilic cell tumours (in chromophilic cell populations). In contrast, clear cell carcinomas demonstrated either complete absence of p53 expression or the presence of single immunopositive nuclei. Oncocytomas were completely negative. Additional immunostaining of the positive samples with mutant p53-specific Pab240 monoclonal antibody failed to detect immunopositive material. No p53 mutation was found in any of the samples analysed by SSCP. Our results suggest that the elevated p53 content in human renal cell carcinomas does not result from gene mutation and the p53 gene alterations are probably not an important mechanism in the development of human renal cell carcinomas. Accumulation of the wild-type p53 protein may be a useful prognostic marker indicating neoplastic progression malignancy.
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PMID:Elevated content of p53 protein in the absence of p53 gene mutations as a possible prognostic marker for human renal cell tumors. 765 36

Mutations in the p53 tumour suppressor gene, with consequent accumulation of the p53 protein, are frequently observed in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Little is known, however, about the timing of their appearance or their maintenance through cancer progression and metastatic spread. We have examined the normal epithelium and a panel of bronchial lesions, including dysplastic, neoplastic, and metastatic lesions, for p53 immunoreactivity and for expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). No p53 immunoreactivity was found in normal and hyperplastic epithelium, nor in squamous metaplastic lesions. Twenty out of 30 invasive tumours and 13 out of 17 in situ carcinomas adjacent to an invasive tumour showed p53 immunoreactivity. There was a strict correlation between the level of p53 expression in the non-invasive and the invasive components of the tumours. Five out of eight pairs of primary tumours and matching metastases expressed p53, at identical levels in both compartments. These data indicate that p53 overexpression can occur in the earliest recognized phase of NSCLC and that the alteration is maintained during progression from in situ to invasive carcinoma and metastatic spread. PCNA expression increased from early to advanced phases of NSCLC. High PCNA immunoreactivity was observed in tumours expressing high p53 levels. A significant association was observed for PCNA expression between preinvasive and invasive lesions.
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PMID:Human non-small cell lung cancer: p53 protein accumulation is an early event and persists during metastatic progression. 767 94

Recent studies of the malignant phenotype have suggested that cumulative genetic changes are necessary for a malignant cell to develop. Alterations in particular genes associated with cell growth and division have been identified and two main classes of genes have been characterized. Oncogenes are those genes which when mutated promote tumour growth, whereas tumour suppressor genes (antioncogenes) inhibit tumour growth. Oncogenes have been investigated in some depth, but relatively little is known about tumour suppressor genes. Recent studies have shown that inactivation of normal tumour suppressor genes is a common mechanism in cancer progression and this may be of prognostic value. The present review focuses on the potential of tumour suppressor genes as prognostic markers in urological cancers.
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PMID:Retinoblastoma and p53 genes as prognostic indicators in urological oncology. 797 78

Breast cancer patients usually do not die of their primary cancers; they die of metastatic disease. Thus understanding the progression of breast cancer to the metastatic state and the changes that take place in highly malignant breast cells are important goals that could eventually result in new therapeutic approaches to highly progressive breast disease. Changes in the expression of certain genes or alterations in gene structures and encoded products can result in benign tumour cells progressing to the metastatic state. Experimentally, this has been performed by transferring dominantly acting oncogenes into susceptible cells and then testing the malignant properties of these cells in suitable animal models, but such rapid qualitative changes occur in vivo only rarely, and the natural progression of mammary cells to the metastatic state is thought to occur through a slow stepwise process that can take several years. Some of the slow stepwise changes in mammary cancer progression can be reversible and need not involve dominantly acting oncogenes or tumour suppressor genes, consistent with clinical observations. An important element of the natural progression of mammary tumours to malignancy may be their ability to circumvent microenvironmental controls that regulate growth and cellular diversity, a process that appears to involve mainly quantitative changes in gene expression, resulting in loss of normal cellular regulation. One of the important mechanisms of cellular regulation in epithelial tissues, such as those found in the breast, is mediated by intercellular junctional communication. Alterations in gene expression can result in loss of gap-junctional communication, concomitant with cellular diversification and progression. It is thought that the highly malignant cancer cells that have slowly evolved in vivo with only a few qualitative changes in gene structure have undergone extensive cycles of diversification and the accumulation of several quantitative changes in the expression of various genes that encode products related to malignancy. We have identified some of the genes that are related to progression and metastasis in breast cancer. For example, one of these genes, a novel gene called mta1 (in rodents) or MTA1 (in humans) appears to be involved in mammary cell motility and growth regulation. Thus highly malignant cellular phenotypes can arise rapidly due to specific qualitative changes in critical controlling genes, or more slowly via less critical qualitative genetic changes coupled with other cellular changes, such as loss of intercellular communication, and changes in gene expression, such as in the MTA1 gene, resulting in cellular diversification and ultimately tumour progression to the metastatic state.
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PMID:Breast cancer metastasis-associated genes: role in tumour progression to the metastatic state. 951 27

The second joint conference of the AACR and the EACR held in Oxford from 9-12 September 1997 was successful from many vantage points. While providing an optimal setting in which European and American cancer researchers could meet and exchange information, the conference had an excellent scientific programme which encompassed both methodological updates on important models used in cancer research and presentations of recent key advances in the molecular genetics of cancer. Lower eukaryotes are established model organisms used to elucidate fundamental but complex eukaryotic processes, such as those involved in tumorigenesis and cancer progression, and the progressive availability of their genome sequence makes them even more attractive. Transgenic mouse models are increasingly used not only for the study of one gene of interest but for investigation of the interactions among genes involved in the same pathway. The family of tumour suppressor genes is growing fast and several presentations were devoted to recently identified members such as the Von Hippel-Lindau gene, the FHIT gene and the PTEN gene. The systematic analysis of loss of heterozygosity on multiple loci in tumour specimens can provide the basis for preliminary models of molecular multistep progression in some tumour types, even though this is limited by the high degree of complexity found. Mechanisms of cell cycle regulation and apoptosis continue to be dissected and to constitute a fruitful area of investigation, with important recent insights on the p53-MDM2 autoregulatory loop and on the involvement of E2F-1 in apoptosis.
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PMID:Recent advances in the molecular genetics of cancer. Second joint conference of the American Association of Cancer Research and the European Association of Cancer Research, Oxford, 9-12 September 1997. 954 79

Tumour progression is strongly associated with a series of specific genetic changes in protooncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. One of the potential factors involved in tumorogenesis of squamous cell carcinomas is protooncogene c-erbB-2 (also known as neu or HER2). The authors analysed the expression of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein in 154 cases of laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas and its relationship to the clinical outcome of the patients. The difference in c-erbB-2 oncoprotein expression between the control group and cancer patients was on the statistical borderline (p = 0.0470). There was no significant correlation between c-erbB-2 expression and sex and age of the patients. T stage, lymph node status, site and histopathological grading of the tumour and clinical outcome of the patients. Univariate analysis revealed no correlation between c-erbB-2 expression and survival rates. We conclude that immunohistological examination of c-erbB-2 on paraffin section is not a valuable prognostic factor in laryngeal carcinoma.
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PMID:C-erbB-2 immunostaining in laryngeal cancer. 1038 Jul 48

The percentage of malignant transformation of laryngeal dysplastic lesions is difficult to estimate. There is a need for new histological markers which could enable more objective assessment of the premalignant stages of the larynx and help in estimation of the potential of future neoplastic progression. We performed a retrospective study to determine whether immunohistochemical staining for the proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), tumour suppressor gene protein p53 and antiapoptotic protein bcl-2 may be prognostic factors in laryngeal epithelial lesions. Staining was performed on 57 paraffin-embedded biopsies from patients with clinically detected precancerous stages of the larynx. Histopathologic examination revealed normal epithelium in six cases, mild dysplasia in 20 cases, moderate dysplasia in 18 cases, severe dysplasia in seven cases, CA in situ in four cases, papilloma in one case and CA invasivum in one case. The p53 count in mild and moderate dysplasia was 26.8 and 38.6%, respectively. This difference was statistically significant. There was significant correlation between PCNA and p53 scores. There was also a relationship between the scores of these markers and bcl-2 expression. In ten out of 45 cases of dysplastic lesions the invasive cancer developed in 4 years of follow-up. The correlation between PCNA score and malignant progression of the dysplastic lesions was on the statistical borderline. There was significant relationship between malignant transformation and age of the patients.
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PMID:Immunohistochemically stained markers (p53, PCNA, bcl-2) in dysplastic lesions of the larynx. 1046 33

Seventy malignant, premalignant and histologically normal biopsies from 7 oesophagogastrectomy specimens of adenocarcinomas of the lower oesophagus and gastroesophageal junction were analysed for loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at 9 known or putative gene loci. LOH was detected in 20 of 27 (74%) malignant biopsies, 4 of 7 (57%) biopsies of dysplasia, 2 of 12 (25%) biopsies of histologically normal oesophagus adjacent to adenocarcinoma, and in 2 of 14 (14%) biopsies of histologically normal stomach adjacent to adenocarcinoma. LOH at the VHL, APC, CDKN2 and DCC tumour suppressor and MSH3 mismatch repair gene loci can be detected in histologically normal tissue and in adjacent adenocarcinoma, and are potential markers of early neoplastic progression.
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PMID:Histological and molecular mapping of adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus and gastroesophageal junction: loss of heterozygosity occurs in histologically normal epithelium in the oesophagus and stomach. 1076 62

P53 is extremely well characterised as a tumour suppressor gene, and many activities have been attributed to it which are consistent with this function. However, despite being the subject of intense study it still remains unclear precisely which of these functions is crucial to its in vivo role as a tumour suppressor gene. This is particularly true of its role in the induction of apoptosis. The original observation of p53-dependent apoptosis gave rise to the following hypothesis: namely, that p53 deficiency leads to a persistence of DNA damaged cells which are the potential founders of malignancy. This review summarises the data for and against this hypothesis, with specific emphasis on data obtained from studies of the murine intestine. What emerges from these studies is a complex picture, where data can be obtained in support of this hypothesis, but there are many circumstances which exist where it is not supported. Taken together this collection of data suggests that the abrogation of p53-dependent apoptosis may indeed impact upon carcinogenesis and neoplastic progression, but that the simplistic notion of p53 as the single gatekeeper of this pathway is untenable.
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PMID:P53 null mice: damaging the hypothesis? 1102 75


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