Growing evidence suggests that accumulation of multiple alterations such as activation of proto-oncogenes and inactivation of tumor suppressor genes is responsible for the development and progression of digestive system cancer. Genetic instability of oncogenes such as microsatellite instability (MSI) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) is probably associated with mutations in genes responsible for tumor-genesis, and they play important roles in tumor clinical pathology. The studies of MSI and LOH of digestive system cancer have been focused on genetic instability of P53, P16 and FHIT, but few studies were seen in gene nm23H1.
A research article to be published on September 28, 2008 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The research team led by Prof. Li from Institute of Cell Biology, Zhejiang University used polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) to analyze MSI and LOH of nm23H1 gene, and immunohistochemistry was employed to check the expression of nm23H1 protein. As various researches regarded nm23H1 as metastasis-associated genes in various tumors, the article further investigated the relationship of nm23H1 genetic instability and its clinical pathological behaviors in Chinese with digestive system cancer.
In their study, in gastric, colonic and gallbladder carcinomas, the positive detected MSI was higher in TNM stage ?+? than that of stage ?+?. In gastric, colonic cancer, HCC and gallbladder carcinoma, the positive detected LOH was higher in TNM stage ?+? than stage ?+?, and higher lymphatic metastasis was also observed. For the expression of nm23H1 protein, it was lower in TNM stage ?+? than that in stage ?+?, and higher lymphatic metastasis cases also showed lower nm23H1 expression. Besides, the LOH negative group exhibited higher nm23H1 protein expression when compared to LOH positive group in gastric cancer, HCC and gallbladder cancer. The results indicated that MSI and LOH may independently control the biological behaviors of the digestive system cancers. MSI could serve as an early biological marker for digestive system cancers. Enhanced expression of nm23H1 protein could efficiently inhibit the cancer metastasis and improve the prognosis. The present data strongly suggest that LOH mostly appeared in the late period of digestive system cancer, indicating a higher malignancy and poor prognosis.
Reference: Yang YQ, Wu L, Chen JX, Sun JZ, Li M, Li DM, Lu HY, Su ZH, Lin XQ, Li JC. Relationship between nm23H1 genetic instability and clinical pathological characteristics in Chinese digestive system cancer patients. World J Gastroenterol 2008; 14(36):5549-5556 http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/14/5549.asp
Correspondence to: Ji-Cheng Li, MD, Professor, Institute of Cell Biology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, Zhejiang Province, China. lijichen@zju.edu.cn
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About World Journal of Gastroenterology
World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H pylori infection. It provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2003-2000 IF: 3.318, 2.532, 1.445 and 0.993. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th of every month. The WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the title China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.
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World Journal of Gastroenterology