Elsevier

Human Pathology

Volume 25, Issue 10, October 1994, Pages 968-981
Human Pathology

The molecular biology of esophageal and gastric cancer and their precursors: Oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and growth factors

https://doi.org/10.1016/0046-8177(94)90056-6Get rights and content

Abstract

The evolution of sequential histological changes from normal cells through invasive cancer affords the cancer biologist the opportunity to identify separate molecular steps involved in cancer progression. As one studies the development of human carcinoma, it becomes apparent that multiple genetic alterations affecting both cellular proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are involved during the development and progression of both esophageal and gastric cancers. The different histological forms of both esophageal and gastric carcinomas as well as their differing etiologies result in the possibility that a spectrum of genetic changes is involved in different tumor types. p53 abnormalities occur frequently in tumors arising in both organs, and in both sites p53 abnormalities can be observed in precancerous lesions as well as in overt cancer. Subsequent abnormalities affecting other genes (eg, epithelial growth factor receptors [EGFRs]) potentially enhance the growth potential of tumors. This review focuses on abnormalities of oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and growth factors commonly found in cancers of the esophagus and stomach.

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    S.C.H., M.A.M., and C.M.F.-P. are supported in part by the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, grant no. 5U10CA32102. A.N. is supported in part by a Clinical Oncology Fellowship of the Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society, Dublin, OH.

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