In epithelial cancers, aberrant COL17A1 promoter methylation predicts its misexpression and increased invasion.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Metastasis is a leading cause of death among cancer patients. In the tumor microenvironment, altered levels of extracellular matrix proteins, such as collagens, can facilitate the first steps of cancer cell metastasis, including invasion into surrounding tissue and intravasation into the blood stream. However, the degree of misexpression of collagen genes in tumors remains understudied, even though this knowledge could greatly facilitate the development of cancer treatment options aimed at preventing metastasis.

Methods

We systematically evaluate the expression of all 44 collagen genes in breast cancer and assess whether their misexpression provides clinical prognostic significance. We use immunohistochemistry on 150 ductal breast cancers and 361 cervical cancers

SUBMITTER: Thangavelu PU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5116176 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature