Ret oncogene activation in human thyroid neoplasms is restricted to the papillary cancer subtype.
We have recently reported the activation of a new oncogene in human papillary thyroid carcinomas. This oncogene, papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), is a novel rearranged version of the ret tyrosine-kinase protooncogene. Thyroid neoplasms include a broad spectrum of malignant tumors, ranging from well-differentiated tumors to undifferentiated anaplastic carcinomas. To determine the frequency of ret oncogene activation, we analyzed 286 cases of human thyroid tumors of diverse histologic types. We found the presence of an activated form of the ret oncogene in 33 (19%) of 177 papillary carcinomas. By contrast, none of the other 109 thyroid tumors, which included 37 follicular, 15 anaplastic, and 18 medullary carcinomas, and 34 benign lesions, showed ret activation.
Santoro
M
M
Centro di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia, Sperimentale del CNR, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Napoli, Italy.
Carlomagno
F
F
Hay
I D
ID
Herrmann
M A
MA
Grieco
M
M
Melillo
R
R
Pierotti
M A
MA
Bongarzone
I
I
Della Porta
G
G
Berger
N
N
D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000235:genetics*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D015870:Gene Expression; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009857:Oncogenes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D014162:Transfection
D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C416649:Ret protein, Drosophila