Significance of survivin mRNA blood levels in patients with melanoma.

Purpose: Survivin represents a key anti-apoptotic molecule that is highly expressed in the vast majority of tumors. The aim of the study was to examine the significance of survivin mRNA blood levels in melanoma patients.

Methods: In this prospective translational research study, survivin mRNA blood levels were measured in melanoma patients treated with adjuvant interferon or systemic treatment for advanced disease.

Detection of circulating tumor cells in colorectal and gastric cancer using a multiplex PCR assay.

Aim: The aim of this study was the development of a multiplex-PCR assay for the detection of circulating tumor cells in patients with colorectal and gastric cancer.

Patients And Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from 81 patients with colorectal cancer, 16 with gastric cancer and 38 healthy blood donors, as controls. The samples were processed for RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis and were subsequently analyzed for the expression of cytokeratin 19 (CK19), cytokeratin 20(CK20) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) with multiplex PCR.

Epigenetic modifications in colorectal cancer: molecular insights and therapeutic challenges.

Colorectal cancer, a leading cause of mortality worldwide, is a multistep disorder that results from the alteration of genetic and epigenetic mechanisms under contextual influence. Epigenetic aberrations, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling and non-coding RNAs, affect every aspect of tumor development from initiation to metastasis. Cancer stem cell promotion is also included in the wide spectrum of epigenetic dysregulations.

Survivin beyond physiology: orchestration of multistep carcinogenesis and therapeutic potentials.

Survivin, a member of the inhibitor of apoptosis protein family, has been associated with protection from cell apoptosis and regulation of mitosis. Survivin exhibits low to undetectable expression in most finally differentiated adult tissues but is abundantly over-expressed in almost all cancers. The aberrant high expression of survivin in cancers is associated with advanced disease, increased rate of tumor recurrence, abbreviated overall survival and resistance to chemo- and radio- therapy.

NF-κB in colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, responsible for more than half a million deaths annually. CRC is a multistep process that entails the accumulation of genetic/epigenetic aberrations, which lead to the simultaneous failure of protective mechanisms and the activation of tumorigenic pathways. In most cases of CRC a deregulation of the Wnt-signaling pathway is required.

Review: advances in non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.

The invasive procedures amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling are routinely applied in pregnancies at risk for fetal genetic disorders and the results obtained are the gold standard for prenatal diagnosis. These procedures have an approximately 0.5-1% risk for fetal loss and are mainly used in cases at risk for fetal chromosomal abnormalities and single-gene disorders.

Targeting transcription factor corepressors in tumor cells.

By being the "integration" center of transcriptional control as they move and target transcription factors, corepressors fine-tune the epigenetic status of the nucleus. Many of them utilize enzymatic activities to modulate chromatin through histone modification or chromatin remodeling. The clinical and etiological relevance of the corepressors to neoplastic growth is increasingly being recognized.