Lehmann Tomasz, Wrzesinski Tomasz
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznan, Poland.
Cancer Genet. 2012 Apr;205(4):131-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cancergen.2012.02.009.
Adrenocortical tumors (ACTs) are common, and most are benign adrenocortical adenomas (ACAs). Malignant adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare tumor type and is observed at the rate of one or two cases per million annually. ACTs are classified as either ACAs or ACCs by histopathologic methods that are based on nine Weiss scoring criteria, including the nuclear grade, mitotic rate, presence of necrosis, and others. In this review, we describe the findings of studies that have examined the molecular basis of ACTs, and we compare transcriptome analysis with other diagnostic approaches. ACTs are occasionally difficult to classify. Therefore, molecular techniques, such as microarray analysis, have recently been applied to overcome some of these diagnostic problems. We also discuss the likelihood of the diagnosis and discernment between ACAs and ACCs based on the molecular tests. To show the recent progress in understanding the etiology of ACTs, we highlight the relationship between genetic analysis and transcriptome analysis. We attempt to understand the role of abnormal cell growth and steroid hormone secretion. Genetic and transcriptome analyses have improved our understanding of ACTs considerably, yet many unanswered questions remain.
肾上腺皮质肿瘤（ACTs）很常见，大多数是良性肾上腺皮质腺瘤（ACAs）。恶性肾上腺皮质癌（ACC）是一种罕见的肿瘤类型，每年的发病率为百万分之一或二。ACTs通过基于九个魏斯评分标准的组织病理学方法分为ACAs或ACCs，这些标准包括核分级、有丝分裂率、坏死的存在等。在本综述中，我们描述了研究ACTs分子基础的研究结果，并将转录组分析与其他诊断方法进行了比较。ACTs有时难以分类。因此，分子技术，如微阵列分析，最近已被应用于克服其中一些诊断问题。我们还讨论了基于分子检测诊断和区分ACAs和ACCs的可能性。为了展示在理解ACTs病因方面的最新进展，我们强调了基因分析与转录组分析之间的关系。我们试图了解异常细胞生长和类固醇激素分泌的作用。基因和转录组分析极大地提高了我们对ACTs的理解，但仍有许多未解决的问题。
