title: Genetic abnormalities and microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer.
abstract: Our purpose was to investigate different genetic abnormalities, such as K-ras mutations, p53 alterations, and c-myc RNA overexpression, as well as microsatellite instability in 63 colorectal tumors obtained from patients that had undergone surgery. K-ras point mutations were analyzed by PCR-RFLP technique, followed by sequencing; p53 protein accumulation by immunohistochemistry; p53 gene mutations in exons 5-9 were studied by the SSCP and sequencing techniques, and c-myc overexpression by Northern blot. Microsatellite instability was performed at chromosomes 2p, 3p, and 11p by a PCR-based technique. Our data indicate a trend toward a poorer prognosis in patients who had K-ras transversions; besides, we have obtained a prevalence of c-myc RNA overexpression and p53 exon 7 mutations in the latest stages of tumor progression. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the recognition of molecular abnormalities might be used in colorectal cancer as a prognostic indicator or to determine the metastatic potential of colorectal adenocarcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Iniesta
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Juan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Caldés
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Massa
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Cerdán
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: López
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Balibrea
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benito
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D011905:Genes, ras; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc / Q000235:genetics; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016271:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53