DNA array-based gene profiling: from surgical specimen to the molecular portrait of cancer.
Cancer is a heterogeneous disease in most respects, including its cellularity, different genetic alterations, and diverse clinical behaviors. Traditional molecular analyses are reductionist, assessing only 1 or a few genes at a time, thus working with a biologic model too specific and limited to confront a process whose clinical outcome is likely to be governed by the combined influence of many genes. The potential of functional genomics is enormous, because for each experiment, thousands of relevant observations can be made simultaneously. Accordingly, DNA array, like other high-throughput technologies, might catalyze and ultimately accelerate the development of knowledge in tumor cell biology. Although in its infancy, the implementation of DNA array technology in cancer research has already provided investigators with novel data and intriguing new hypotheses on the molecular cascade leading to carcinogenesis, tumor aggressiveness, and sensitivity to antiblastic agents. Given the revolutionary implications that the use of this technology might have in the clinical management of patients with cancer, principles of DNA array-based tumor gene profiling need to be clearly understood for the data to be correctly interpreted and appreciated. In the present work, we discuss the technical features characterizing this powerful laboratory tool and review the applications so far described in the field of oncology.
Mocellin
Simone
S
Surgery Branch, Department of Oncological and Surgical Sciences, University of Padova, Italy. mocellins@hotmail.com
Provenzano
Maurizio
M
Rossi
Carlo Riccardo
CR
Pilati
Pierluigi
P
Nitti
Donato
D
Lise
Mario
M
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents