title: Double minutes, cytogenetic equivalents of gene amplification, in human neoplasia - a review.
abstract: Double minutes are tiny spherical chromatin bodies of a few mega-base pairs of size which are found occasionally in hematopoietic neoplasia and more or less often in human solid tumors. They have been associated with worse prognosis and poor outcome of the malignancies where present. With the beginning era of molecular cytogenetics they could be defined as cytogenetic equivalents of amplified DNA sequences. The identification of involved chromosomal segments and their molecular nature led to the development of molecular genetic techniques for a rapid and reliable detection of prognostically important oncogene amplifications in human tumors and,as a consequence, to gene-targeted therapy.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Genetics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany. egebhart@humgenet.uni-erlangen.de
authors.forename: Erich
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gebhart
mesh_terms: D002843:Chromatin / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D005784:Gene Amplification; D019337:Hematologic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009857:Oncogenes; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011379:Prognosis; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D002843:Chromatin; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase