Collins V P
Department of Pathology I, Sahlgrenska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Semin Cancer Biol. 1993 Feb;4(1):27-32.
The most common types of brain tumors in adults are collectively known as gliomas. The most common glioma is the most malignant, the glioblastoma. Double minute chromosomes, known to represent amplified genes, are found in 50% of glioblastomas. Four genes have been identified as being amplified in more than single cases of glioblastomas; MYCN, GLI, PDGFRA and EGFR. The first three have been reported in a few per cent of malignant gliomas, and EGFR in around 40% of glioblastomas. The latter two genes code for growth factor receptors. On amplification, the genes for these receptors frequently become rearranged, resulting in changes in the regions of their transcripts that code for the extra-cellular domains of these proteins. Such aberrant proteins may provide us with cell-surface, tumor-specific, epitopes. These findings provide simple examples of the impact the use of modern molecular biological techniques will have for our understanding and treatment of tumors in the future.
成人中最常见的脑肿瘤类型统称为神经胶质瘤。最常见的神经胶质瘤是恶性程度最高的胶质母细胞瘤。已知代表扩增基因的双微体染色体在50%的胶质母细胞瘤中存在。已确定有四个基因在不止一例胶质母细胞瘤中发生扩增；即MYCN、GLI、PDGFRA和EGFR。前三个基因在少数恶性神经胶质瘤中被报道过，而EGFR在约40%的胶质母细胞瘤中存在。后两个基因编码生长因子受体。基因扩增时，这些受体的基因常常发生重排，导致其转录本中编码这些蛋白质细胞外结构域的区域发生变化。这种异常蛋白质可能为我们提供细胞表面的肿瘤特异性表位。这些发现为现代分子生物学技术的应用在未来对我们理解和治疗肿瘤所产生的影响提供了简单示例。
