title: Expression of Wilms tumor 1 gene in a variety of pediatric tumors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) gene is overexpressed in many types of neoplasms, thus suggesting that WT1 has oncogenic properties. Therefore, WT1 is a molecular target for cancer therapy. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the WT1 gene expression in various pediatric tumors and to elucidate that WT1 can be a target of cancer therapy in pediatric malignancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  The expression of WT1 protein was examined in 60 cases of primary pediatric tumors. The levels of WT1 messenger RNA (mRNA) expression were examined by a quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis in frozen tissue samples from 56 cases with pediatric tumors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunohistochemical staining revealed that WT1 protein was widely detected in pediatric malignancies. The alveolar subtype of rhabdomyosarcoma showed more intensive staining than the embryonal subtype. The positive rate of the alveolar type was significantly higher than that of the embryonal type. The expression of WT1 mRNA in the tumor samples varied widely. However, no significant correlation was observed between WT1 mRNA expression and clinical factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The WT1 expression was broadly detected in various pediatric neoplasms. These results indicate that WT1 may therefore be a potentially useful therapeutic target in most of pediatric malignancies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan. ooue@pedsurg.med.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takaharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oue
authors.forename: Shuichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uehara
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamanaka
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takama
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oji
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuzawa
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005729:Ganglioneuroma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D016162:Genes, Wilms Tumor; D018197:Hepatoblastoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D018232:Rhabdomyosarcoma, Alveolar / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D018233:Rhabdomyosarcoma, Embryonal / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D015996:Survival Rate; D025721:WT1 Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D025721:WT1 Proteins