GSTP1 hypermethylation is associated with reduced protein expression, aggressive disease and prognosis in neuroblastoma.

Epigenetic modifications such as methylation of CpG islands in tumor-suppressor gene promoter regions have been associated with tumor development in many human cancers. Using methylation specific multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification method, we analyzed the methylation status of 35 different genes in 16 neuroblastoma (NB) cell lines and 50 NB tumor samples (NBs), and investigated whether specific hypermethylation was associated with biological and/or clinical parameters. Among the genes found hypermethylated, the effect of GSTP1 hypermethylation on mRNA and protein expression was also explored.

Detection of ATM gene deletion/duplication by multiplex ligation-dependant probe amplification in childhood lymphoid malignancies: a report from the Children's Oncology Group.

ATM gene alterations have been described in various lymphoproliferative malignancies suggesting that ATM contributes to lymphomagenesis. Using multiplex ligation-dependant probe amplification (MLPA), we screened 61 childhood lymphoid malignancies for ATM genomic deletion/duplication. Five samples were found to have a complete deletion or duplication.

Twenty-three novel BRCA1 and BRCA2 sequence variations identified in a cohort of Swiss breast and ovarian cancer families.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 are the major genes predisposing to breast-ovarian cancer (i.e., breast or ovarian cancer or both).