Verhandlungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pathologie
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Verh Dtsch Ges Pathol · Jan 1999
[Molecular carcinogenesis in ulcerative colitis-associated and sporadic colorectal carcinoma--differences and similarities].
Like sporadic colorectal cancers, ulcerative colitis (UC)-related cancers are thought to evolve through a multistep progression pathway. The genomic alterations important in sporadic colorectal carcinogenesis are well characterized, with loss of APC function being a frequent and early event. However, the genomic alterations in UC-related carcinogenesis are yet unclear and the role of APC is controversial. ⋯ Clonal chromosomal alterations occur early in UC-related tumor progression. UC-related and sporadic cancers share a set of common clonal abnormalities. The frequent loss of 5q and the altered expression of APC, beta-catenin, and E-cadherin proteins in UC-related cancers indicate a critical role of the APC/beta-catenin pathway in UC-related carcinogenesis.