20 years of RET/PTC in thyroid cancer: clinico-pathological correlations.
The RET/PTC oncogene has been isolated almost twenty years ago. During these years, the research has given a final answer to several questions. In fact, it has been demonstrated that: a) RET/PTC is an early event in the process of thyroid carcinogenesis and has a critical role in the generation of the papillary carcinoma; b) RET/PTC activation is essentially restricted to the papillary histotype and to the Hürthle thyroid tumors; c) its incidence increases after exposure to radiations. However, some questions have not found a final answer yet: a) which is the real frequency of RET/PTC activation? Likely it is around 20%, but this point is still questionable; b) which other gene modifications are required to lead a thyroid cell carrying a RET/PTC oncogene to the malignant phenotype?, and c) is there any correlation between RET/PTC activation and clinical parameters? We hope that these questions will have a clear answer in the near future.
Fusco
Alfredo
A
Dipartimento di Biologia e Patologia Cellulare e Molecolare, Istituto di Endocrinologia ed Oncologia Sperimentale, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia di Napoli, Università degli Studi di Napoli, Naples, Italy. afusco@napoli.com
Santoro
Massimo
M
D018249:Adenoma, Oxyphilic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002170:Canada; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015321:Gene Rearrangement; D050031:Hashimoto Disease / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000235:genetics; D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion / Q000235:genetics*; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret / Q000235:genetics; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D013997:Time Factors; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014481:United States
D015514:Oncogene Proteins, Fusion; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051096:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ret; C099282:RET protein, human; C093573:ret-PTC fusion oncoproteins, human