Commentaries

Epigenetics

CIMP and colon cancer gets more complicated

William M Grady

Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; Department of Medicine, University of Washington Medical School; R&D Service, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA

Correspondence to:
William M Grady, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 1100 Fairview Ave N. D4–100, Seattle, WA 98109; wgrady@fhcrc.org

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Evidence for a subset of colon cancers with low-level CIMP that has unique molecular and clinical features compared with cancers with no CIMP and high-level CIMP

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Abbreviations: CIMP, CpG island methylator phenotype; CIN, chromosomal instability; CRC, colorectal cancer; MSI, microsatellite instability; CIN, CIN, chromosomal instability; MSI, microsatellite instability

Keywords: DNA methylation; CpG island; MGMT; epigenetics

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly occurring cancers in adults, and arises through the cumulative effects of inherited genetic susceptibilities and environmental exposures. These two sets of factors interact to cause CRC by either inducing or permitting the progressive accumulation of gene mutations (such as those in APC, the "gatekeeper" tumour suppressor gene) and alterations to the epigenome (such as aberrant methylation of MGMT or CDKN2A). The importance of the accumulation of multiple gene mutations in causing colon cancer is highlighted by the fact that colon cancer can be divided at the molecular level into at least two distinct molecular categories based on the types of mutations observed. These two categories are the chromosome instability (CIN) group, which is characterised by the presence of aneuploidy, chromosome translocations, and chromosomal gains and losses, and the microsatellite instability (MSI) group, which is characterised by the presence . . . [Full text of this article]

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