Although the colorectal adenoma-to-carcinoma sequence represents a classical cancer progression model, the evolution of the mutational landscape underlying this model is not fully understood. In this study, we analyzed eight synchronous pairs of colorectal high-grade adenomas and carcinomas, four microsatellite-unstable (MSU) and four-stable (MSS) pairs, using whole-exome sequencing. In the MSU...

A total of 1,834 cases of colorectal cancers were divided into two diagnostic groups and studied. The ratio of smaller, less advanced carcinomas to the total number of colorectal cancers diagnosed by electronic videoendoscopy has increased as compared to the ratio in cases diagnosed by fiberscopy. This seems to be largely influenced by concomittent developments such as the implementation of col...

Purpose: Angiogenesis plays an important role in a multitude of biological processes including those of tumorigenesis and cancer progression. Hypoxia is the prime driving factor for tumor angiogenesis and the family of hypoxiainducible factors (HIFs) plays a pivotal role in this process. The role of HIF in tumor angiogenesis has been underscored in different carcinomas but yet to be reported fo...

Aim—To investigate the role of metallothionein in colorectal tumours and the possible relation with other factors associated with tumour progression: expression of cathepsin D (CD), CD44, p53, Rb, bcl-2, c-erbB-2, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), proliferation indices (Ki-67, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)), and conventional clinicopathological variables. Methods—The immunohi...

INTRODUCTION Malignant degeneration as a possible course of evolution of colorectal polyps renders their diagnosis and therapeutic management a prophylactic act in the prevention of colorectal cancer (CRC). MATERIAL AND METHOD The study was conducted over a period of 3 years (2008-2011), during which 1,368 colonoscopies were performed in our service. The aim of the study was to identify patie...

AIM To verify the expression and methylation status of the MAGE-A1 and MAGE-A3 genes in colorectal cancer tissues and cancer cell lines. METHODS We evaluated promoter demethylation status of the MAGE-A1 and MAGE-A3 genes by RT-PCR analysis and methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR), as well as sequencing analysis, after sodium bisulfite modification in 32 colorectal cancer cell lines and 87 cancer...

The incidence and prevalence rates of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) in Finland between 1961 and 1990 were estimated from Finnish polyposis registry data comprising 81 FAP families, including 251 affected patients. In addition, the effect of family screening on the occurrence of colorectal carcinoma was evaluated by comparing the call up and proband groups and calculating the proportion o...

Genetic instability has emerged as an important hallmark of human neoplasia. Although most types of cancers exhibit genetic instability to some extent, in colorectal cancers genetic instability is a distinctive characteristic. Recent studies have shown that deregulation of genes involved in sister chromatid cohesion can result in chromosomal instability in colorectal cancers. Here, we show that...

Mutations in PIK3CA are present in 10 to 15% of colorectal carcinomas. We aimed to examine how PIK3CA mutations relate to other molecular alterations in colorectal carcinoma, to pathologic phenotype and survival. PIK3CA mutation testing was carried out using direct sequencing on 757 incident tumors from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. The status of O-6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransfer...