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Recurrent gene fusions in prostate cancer

2008; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 8; Issue: 7 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/nrc2402

1474-1768

Chandan Kumar‐Sinha, Scott A. Tomlins, Arul M. Chinnaiyan,

Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics

Gene fusions have long been known to have an important role in leukaemias, but they have recently been identified in a majority of prostate cancers. Understanding their role in this disease could lead to better targeted therapies. The discovery of recurrent gene fusions in a majority of prostate cancers has important clinical and biological implications in the study of common epithelial tumours. Gene fusion and chromosomal rearrangements were previously thought to be primarily the oncogenic mechanism of haematological malignancies and sarcomas. The prostate cancer gene fusions that have been identified thus far are characterized by 5′ genomic regulatory elements, most commonly controlled by androgen, fused to members of the Ets family of transcription factors, leading to the overexpression of oncogenic transcription factors. Ets gene fusions probably define a distinct class of prostate cancer, and this might have a bearing on diagnosis, prognosis and rational therapeutic targeting.