Comparability of microarray data between amplified and non amplified RNA in colorectal carcinoma.

Microarray analysis reaches increasing popularity during the investigation of prognostic gene clusters in oncology. The standardisation of technical procedures will be essential to compare various datasets produced by different research groups. In several projects the amount of available tissue is limited.

Differences in the gene expression profile of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors (TIMPs) in primary colorectal tumors and their synchronous liver metastases.

Background: Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) have been strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of many types of human cancer. We wanted to specifically define their role in established colorectal cancer liver metastases.

Patients And Methods: The MMP/TIMP expression profiles of N=9 colorectal primary tumour liver metastasis tissue pairs were determined using oligonucleotide-based arrays.