Evolutionary mode and timing of dissemination of high-grade serous carcinomas.

Dissemination within the peritoneal cavity is a main determinant of poor patient outcomes from high-grade serous carcinomas (HGSCs). The dissemination process is poorly understood from a cancer evolutionary perspective. We reconstructed the evolutionary trajectories across a median of 5 tumor sites and regions from each of 23 patients based on deep whole-exome sequencing.

Frequent copy number gains of SLC2A3 and ETV1 in testicular embryonal carcinomas.

Testicular germ cell tumours (TGCTs) appear as different histological subtypes or mixtures of these. They show similar, multiple DNA copy number changes, where gain of 12p is pathognomonic. However, few high-resolution analyses have been performed and focal DNA copy number changes with corresponding candidate target genes remain poorly described for individual subtypes.

C77G in PTPRC (CD45) is no risk allele for ovarian cancer, but associated with less aggressive disease.

The pan lymphocyte marker CD45 exists in various isoforms arising from alternative splicing of the exons 4, 5 and 6. While naïve T cells express CD45RA translated from an mRNA containing exon 4, exons 4-6 are spliced out to encode the shorter CD45R0 in antigen-experienced effector/memory T cells. The SNP C77G (rs17612648) is located in exon 4 and blocks the exon's differential splicing from the pre-mRNA, enforcing expression of CD45RA.

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition markers in malignant ovarian germ cell tumors.

The purpose of this study was to determine the expression and potential clinical role of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related factors in malignant ovarian germ cell tumors (MOGCT). Protein expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, P-cadherin, Zeb1, HMGA2, and vimentin by immunohistochemistry was analyzed in 42 MOGCT from patients treated in Norway during the period 1981-2001. Expression was analyzed for association with clinicopathologic parameters.

Exome sequencing of bilateral testicular germ cell tumors suggests independent development lineages.

Intratubular germ cell neoplasia, the precursor of testicular germ cell tumors (TGCTs), is hypothesized to arise during embryogenesis from developmentally arrested primordial germ cells (PGCs) or gonocytes. In early embryonal life, the PGCs migrate from the yolk sac to the dorsal body wall where the cell population separates before colonizing the genital ridges. However, whether the malignant transformation takes place before or after this separation is controversial.