Deleted in colon cancer protein expression in colorectal cancer metastases: a major predictor of survival in patients with unresectable metastatic disease receiving palliative fluorouracil-based chemotherapy.
We have shown that while LOH at DCC locus occurred at a similar frequency in both tumors, diminished DCC protein expression was exclusively present in colorectal tumors harboring intragenic DCC LOH.
To elucidate further genetic alterations in flat-type colorectal tumors, codon 201Arg/Gly polymorphism in the DCC (deleted in colorectal carcinoma) gene was analyzed in normal tissue (normal colonic mucosa or peripheral lymphocytes) and in tumor tissue from 191 patients with colorectal tumors (36 patients with flat-type colorectal tumors, 81 patients with polypoid-type colorectal tumors, and 74 patients with advanced carcinomas).
The DCC (deleted in colorectal carcinoma) gene, located on the long arm of chromosome 18, has been shown to be frequently deleted in colorectal tumors.
In the present study, LOH at the DCC locus on chromosome 18q and the expression of DCC gene into mRNA were analyzed in colorectal tumors with distinct histopathological types.