Verhandlungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Pathologie
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Verh Dtsch Ges Pathol · Jan 2003
Review[Molecular changes in development and progression of urothelial carcinoma].
The multistep development of malignant tumors with increasing accumulation of genetic alterations from preneoplastic lesions to invasive carcinoma is an accepted model of carcinogenesis. Urothelial carcinoma of the bladder and upper urinary tract is an interesting model system to study tumor development and progression. There is both clinical and molecular evidence that urothelial carcinoma can be divided in two groups with different characteristics: 1) well differentiated genetic stable and mostly superficial papillary tumors with frequent recurrence and low progression risk and 2) poorly differentiated mostly solid and invasive tumors with a high number of genetic alterations. ⋯ They were more frequent in females and younger patients and had a higher incidence of colorectal carcinomas and other tumors in the family. Chromosome 9 deletions, a hallmark of urothelial carcinomas, and the number of chromosomal alterations as detected by CGH analysis were significantly less frequent in these tumors. These data strongly suggest a distinct molecular pathway in the development of upper urinary tract tumors with mutator phenotype.