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

Although the occurrence of bladder cancer is common, the molecular events underlying the pathogenesis of this cancer remain ill-defined. A loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at specific chromosomal loci may predispose individuals to the development of bladder cancer but this has not been examined in detail. Furthermore, the role that deletion or inactivation of putative tumour suppressor genes might play in the genesis of bladder cancer has not been established. In this study, allelic deletion analysis on the short arm of chromosome 17 of patients with primary bladder tumours failed to show deletion at 17p13 (0/7), a region known to contain the p53 tumour suppressor gene. Chromosome 11p15 showed allelic deletion at the IGF2 locus (2/7: 29%) and the PTH locus (1/11: 9%). However, no deletion was observed at the CALCA locus (0/6). LOH at 11p13, a region containing the Wilm's tumour suppressor gene (WT1), was also studied. Analysis of LOH at 11p13 showed deletion at the CAT locus (13/18: 72%), the delta J/D11S414 locus (5/15: 33%), the WT1 locus (7/14: 50%) and the FSHB locus (6/16: 38%). The significance of these findings is discussed.
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PMID:Loss of heterozygosity on chromosome 11p13 in primary bladder carcinoma. 810 Feb 10

Normally, thyroid cancer is a disease with a good prognosis, but about 30% of the tumours dedifferentiate and may finally develop into highly malignant anaplastic thyroid carcinomas with a mean survival time of less than 8 months. Due to the loss of thyroid-specific functions associated with dedifferentiation, these tumours are inaccessible to standard therapeutic procedures such as radioiodide therapy and thyroxine-mediated thyrotrophin suppression. Medullary thyroid carcinomas are also highly aggressive. Here, therapy is limited to surgery, and no alternative is left if patients do not respond to this standard procedure. Obviously, new approaches would be desirable. Several novel approaches are currently being tested for the treatment of thyroid cancer. Many of them utilise methods of gene therapy, but follow different strategies: (1) reintroduction of the tumour suppressor p53 into a background lacking functional p53; (2) suicide gene therapy with ganciclovir and a transduced gene for herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase controlled by the thyroglobulin promoter; (3) strengthening of the antitumour immune response by expression of an adenovirus-delivered interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene; (4) induction of an immune response by DNA vaccination against the tumour marker calcitonin; (5) transduction of the thyroid sodium/iodide transporter gene to make tissues that do not accumulate iodide treatable by radioiodide therapy; (6) blocking of the expression of the oncogene c-myc by antisense oligonucleotides. While these approaches are still tested in vitro or in animal models, first results from pilot studies concerning other novel treatment modalities are available: (7) radioimmunotherapy exploits the carcinoembryonic antigen expressed on medullary thyroid carcinomas to target a radiolabelled antibody to the tumour; and (8) retinoic acid is used for a redifferentiation therapy in the case of thyroid cancer. Hopefully, one or the other of these novel strategies may probably extend after some time the current therapeutic repertoire for thyroid cancers and provide a perspective for otherwise untreatable patients.
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PMID:Innovative strategies for the treatment of thyroid cancer. 1087 26

Parathyroid carcinoma (PC) is an uncommon finding, accounting for only 1-2% of patients with primary hyperparathyroidism (HPT), but a relatively higher incidence has been reported in Italy and Japan. The etiology of the tumour remains unclear, but molecular analysis studies have hypothesised the involvement of mutations of several genes in the pathogenesis of PC, including the oncogene cyclin Dl or PRADI located at the chromosome 13, the retinoblastoma and the p53 tumour suppressor gene. The clinical presentation of patients with PC is mainly related to the increased secretion of PTH rather than to the tumour burden. The pre-operative diagnosis of malignancy is very difficult to obtain, and, thus, intra-operative recognition of PC is mandatory. However, reliable signs of malignancy are rarely detectable. Probably, only vascular invasion, that correlates with tumour recurrence and metastases, should be considered useful in confirming malignancy, although both Ki-67 and Cyclin D1 have been recently used to aid in the definitive diagnosis. The en bloc resection of the tumour, together with ipsilateral thyroid lobe and adjacent structures, only if involved, avoiding any capsular rupture of the mass, represents the gold standard of surgical treatment of patients. Although the PC has traditionally been considered as a radioresistant tumour, there are some retrospective data holding a possible benefit from post-operative irradiation. No cytotoxic regimen with proven efficacy is currently available for patients with PC, but since hypercalcemia is ultimately the most frequent cause of death, several studies have suggested the usefulness of bisphosphonates (i.e., clodronate, pamidronate and zoledronate), calcitonin, and calcimimetic agents (i.e., cinacalcet) in patients with PC and severe hypercalcemia. In conclusion, PC is a rare malignancy and the NCDB survey reports an overall five- and ten-year survival rate of 85% and 49%, respectively. However, it is very difficult to predict the clinical behaviour of patients with PC and probably the ultimate prognosis depends on successful resection of the tumour at the initial surgery.
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PMID:Parathyroid cancer: etiology, clinical presentation and treatment. 1721 44

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare calcitonin-producing neuroendocrine tumour that originates from the parafollicular C-cells of the thyroid gland. The RET proto-oncogene encodes the RET receptor tyrosine kinase, which has essential roles in cell survival, differentiation and proliferation. Activating mutations of RET are associated with the pathogenesis of MTC and have been demonstrated in nearly all hereditary and in 30-50% of sporadic MTC cases, making this receptor an excellent target for small-molecule inhibitors for this tumour. Clinical trials of small organic inhibitors of tyrosine kinase receptors (TKIs) targeting the RET receptor have shown efficacy for treatment of metastatic MTC with 30-50% of patients responding to these agents. Despite the importance of the RET receptor in MTC, it is clear that other signal transduction pathways, tyrosine kinase receptors, and tumour suppressor genes are involved in MTC tumourigenesis and progression. A better understanding of molecular cross-talk between these signal pathways and the RET receptor may lead to combinatorial therapy that will improve outcomes beyond what is currently possible with RET-directed TKIs. Finally, there is evidence that immunological-based therapy using dendritic cell vaccination strategies have been effective for reducing tumour mass in a small number of patients. The identification of additional MTC-specific tumour antigens and a better understanding of specific epitopes in these tumour antigens may lead to improvement of response rates.
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PMID:Beyond RET: potential therapeutic approaches for advanced and metastatic medullary thyroid carcinoma. 1952 29