Houlston R S, Tomlinson I P
Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK.
Mol Pathol. 1997 Dec;50(6):281-8. doi: 10.1136/mp.50.6.281.
The contribution of molecular genetics to colorectal cancer has been restricted largely to relatively rare inherited tumours and to the detection of germline mutations predisposing to these cancers. However, much is now also known about somatic events leading to colorectal cancer. A number of studies has been undertaken examining possible relations between genetic features and prognostic indices. While many of these studies are small and inconclusive, it is clear that a number of different pathways exist for the development of this cancer and some molecular characteristics correlate with clinicopathological features. With the advent of methods for the rapid genotyping of large numbers of colorectal cancers, it should be possible to evaluate fully the clinical usefulness of colorectal cancer genotypes through multivariate analyses.
分子遗传学对结直肠癌的贡献主要局限于相对罕见的遗传性肿瘤以及对易患这些癌症的种系突变的检测。然而，现在人们对导致结直肠癌的体细胞事件也有了很多了解。已经进行了一些研究来探讨基因特征与预后指标之间的可能关系。虽然这些研究中的许多规模较小且尚无定论，但很明显，这种癌症的发生存在多种不同途径，并且一些分子特征与临床病理特征相关。随着大量结直肠癌快速基因分型方法的出现，通过多变量分析全面评估结直肠癌基因型的临床实用性应该是可行的。
