Cancer Genetics

A special issue of Genes (ISSN 2073-4425). This special issue belongs to the section "Human Genomics and Genetic Diseases".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2016) | Viewed by 38858

Special Issue Editor

Division of Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, 2103 Cornell Road, Cleveland, OH 44106-7281, USA
Interests: genetic and molecular epidemiology; multivariate modeling; biochemical pathway modeling; gene expression; carcinogenesis; metabolic disorders

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For this special issue, we would like to invite submissions in the form of a review or with new findings, which discusses one or more of the following approaches that you incorporate to discovering and/or validating genetic markers in carcinogenesis:

-  genomewide association studies
-  candidate gene association studies
-  sequencing
-  miRNAs
-  epigenetics/DNA methylation
-  transcription profiling
-  systems biology

We would like for you to discuss how the technology and/or methods you utilize can be manipulated to better understand the ‘cancer genome’ and comment on how these technologies and/or methodologies may help towards achieving “personalized cancer treatment”. With your help, this Special Edition will undoubtedly be a great resource for current and future cancer researchers!

We look forward to reading your contributions,

Dr. Nora L. Nock
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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2364 KiB  
Article
Rectal Cancer in a Patient with Bartter Syndrome: A Case Report
by Shiki Fujino, Norikatsu Miyoshi, Masayuki Ohue, Mikio Mukai, Yoji Kukita, Taishi Hata, Chu Matsuda, Tsunekazu Mizushima, Yuichiro Doki and Masaki Mori
Genes 2017, 8(5), 139; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8050139 - 12 May 2017
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 12039
Abstract
A woman with rectal cancer was scheduled for surgery. However, she also had hypokalemia, hyperreninemia, and hyperaldosteronism in the absence of any known predisposing factors or endocrine tumors. She was given intravenous potassium, and her blood abnormalities stabilized after tumor resection. Genetic analysis [...] Read more.
A woman with rectal cancer was scheduled for surgery. However, she also had hypokalemia, hyperreninemia, and hyperaldosteronism in the absence of any known predisposing factors or endocrine tumors. She was given intravenous potassium, and her blood abnormalities stabilized after tumor resection. Genetic analysis revealed mutations in several genes associated with Bartter syndrome (BS) and Gitelman syndrome, including SLC12A1, CLCNKB, CASR, SLC26A3, and SLC12A3. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays an important role in BS and worsens electrolyte abnormalities. The PGE2 level is reportedly increased in colorectal cancer, and in the present case, immunohistochemical examination revealed an increased PGE2 level in the tumor. We concluded that the tumor-related PGE2 elevation had worsened the patient’s BS, which became more manageable after tumor resection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Genetics)
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Article
An Exploratory Study to Determine Whether BRCA1 and BRCA2 Mutation Carriers Have Higher Risk of Cardiac Toxicity
by Monique Sajjad, Michael Fradley, Weihong Sun, Jongphil Kim, Xiuhua Zhao, Tuya Pal and Roohi Ismail-Khan
Genes 2017, 8(2), 59; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8020059 - 02 Feb 2017
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 3982
Abstract
Anthracycline-based cardiotoxicity is concerning for women with breast cancer and portends a dose-dependent risk of developing left ventricular dysfunction. Overall, the prevalence of heart failure (HF) is ≈2% of the total US population; however, BRCA-deficient mice have shown increased HF. We evaluated for [...] Read more.
Anthracycline-based cardiotoxicity is concerning for women with breast cancer and portends a dose-dependent risk of developing left ventricular dysfunction. Overall, the prevalence of heart failure (HF) is ≈2% of the total US population; however, BRCA-deficient mice have shown increased HF. We evaluated for the inherent risk of HF in women with BRCA mutations to determine whether treatment with anthracycline-based therapy increased this risk. We obtained results on BRCA mutation carriers regarding cancer treatment and HF, identified through the BRCA patient advocacy organization Facing Our Risk for Cancer Empowered (FORCE) and the Moffittbased Inherited Cancer Registry. In our patient group (232 BRCA1 and 159 BRCA2 patients; 10 with both mutations), 7.7% reported HF, with similar proportions in BRCA1 versus BRCA2 carriers (7.4% and 8.2%, respectively). These proportions are significantly higher than published rates (p < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in HF rates comparing anthracycline-treated versus anthracycline-naïve patients however (7.1% vs. 8.3%; p = 0.67). In addition, 9.1% of BRCA1 carriers and 8.2% of BRCA2 carriers reported arrhythmias. BRCA mutation carriers showed increased risk of cardiotoxicity versus the general population and an overall increased risk of cardiotoxicity from anthracycline-based therapy. Our study supports data that BRCA carriers have increased noncancer mortality from cardiotoxicity. A prospective trial to determine HF and conduction abnormalities in this population is warranted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Genetics)
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Article
Evaluation of Methylation Biomarkers for Detection of Circulating Tumor DNA and Application to Colorectal Cancer
by Susan M. Mitchell, Thu Ho, Glenn S. Brown, Rohan T. Baker, Melissa L. Thomas, Aidan McEvoy, Zheng-Zhou Xu, Jason P. Ross, Trevor J. Lockett, Graeme P. Young, Lawrence C. LaPointe, Susanne K. Pedersen and Peter L. Molloy
Genes 2016, 7(12), 125; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes7120125 - 15 Dec 2016
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 8722
Abstract
Solid tumors shed DNA into circulation, and there is growing evidence that the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has broad clinical utility, including monitoring of disease, prognosis, response to chemotherapy and tracking tumor heterogeneity. The appearance of ctDNA in the circulating cell-free [...] Read more.
Solid tumors shed DNA into circulation, and there is growing evidence that the detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has broad clinical utility, including monitoring of disease, prognosis, response to chemotherapy and tracking tumor heterogeneity. The appearance of ctDNA in the circulating cell-free DNA (ccfDNA) isolated from plasma or serum is commonly detected by identifying tumor-specific features such as insertions, deletions, mutations and/or aberrant methylation. Methylation is a normal cell regulatory event, and since the majority of ccfDNA is derived from white blood cells (WBC), it is important that tumour-specific DNA methylation markers show rare to no methylation events in WBC DNA. We have used a novel approach for assessment of low levels of DNA methylation in WBC DNA. DNA methylation in 29 previously identified regions (residing in 17 genes) was analyzed in WBC DNA and eight differentially-methylated regions (DMRs) were taken through to testing in clinical samples using methylation specific PCR assays. DMRs residing in four genes, BCAT1, GRASP, IKZF1 and IRF4, exhibited low positivity, 3.5% to 7%, in the plasma of colonoscopy-confirmed healthy subjects, with the sensitivity for detection of ctDNA in colonoscopy-confirmed patients with colorectal cancer being 65%, 54.5%, 67.6% and 59% respectively. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Genetics)
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Article
Methylation Analysis of DNA Mismatch Repair Genes Using DNA Derived from the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Endometrial Cancer: Epimutation in Endometrial Carcinogenesis
by Takashi Takeda, Kouji Banno, Megumi Yanokura, Masataka Adachi, Moito Iijima, Haruko Kunitomi, Kanako Nakamura, Miho Iida, Yuya Nogami, Kiyoko Umene, Kenta Masuda, Yusuke Kobayashi, Wataru Yamagami, Akira Hirasawa, Eiichiro Tominaga, Nobuyuki Susumu and Daisuke Aoki
Genes 2016, 7(10), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes7100086 - 14 Oct 2016
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6554
Abstract
Germline mutation of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes is a cause of Lynch syndrome. Methylation of MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) and MutS homolog 2 (MSH2) has been detected in peripheral blood cells of patients with colorectal cancer. This methylation [...] Read more.
Germline mutation of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes is a cause of Lynch syndrome. Methylation of MutL homolog 1 (MLH1) and MutS homolog 2 (MSH2) has been detected in peripheral blood cells of patients with colorectal cancer. This methylation is referred to as epimutation. Methylation of these genes has not been studied in an unselected series of endometrial cancer cases. Therefore, we examined methylation of MLH1, MSH2, and MSH6 promoter regions of peripheral blood cells in 206 patients with endometrial cancer using a methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Germline mutation of MMR genes, microsatellite instability (MSI), and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were also analyzed in each case with epimutation. MLH1 epimutation was detected in a single patient out of a total of 206 (0.49%)—1 out of 58 (1.72%) with an onset age of less than 50 years. The patient with MLH1 epimutation showed high level MSI (MSI-H), loss of MLH1 expression and had developed endometrial cancer at 46 years old, complicated with colorectal cancer. No case had epimutation of MSH2 or MSH6. The MLH1 epimutation detected in a patient with endometrial cancer may be a cause of endometrial carcinogenesis. This result indicates that it is important to check epimutation in patients with endometrial cancer without a germline mutation of MMR genes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Genetics)
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Review

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225 KiB  
Review
Familial Lung Cancer: A Brief History from the Earliest Work to the Most Recent Studies
by Anthony M. Musolf, Claire L. Simpson, Mariza De Andrade, Diptasri Mandal, Colette Gaba, Ping Yang, Yafang Li, Ming You, Elena Y. Kupert, Marshall W. Anderson, Ann G. Schwartz, Susan M. Pinney, Christopher I. Amos and Joan E. Bailey-Wilson
Genes 2017, 8(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8010036 - 17 Jan 2017
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 6387
Abstract
Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the United States, killing roughly one of four cancer patients in 2016. While it is well-established that lung cancer is caused primarily by environmental effects (particularly tobacco smoking), there is evidence for genetic susceptibility. Lung cancer [...] Read more.
Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the United States, killing roughly one of four cancer patients in 2016. While it is well-established that lung cancer is caused primarily by environmental effects (particularly tobacco smoking), there is evidence for genetic susceptibility. Lung cancer has been shown to aggregate in families, and segregation analyses have hypothesized a major susceptibility locus for the disease. Genetic association studies have provided strong evidence for common risk variants of small-to-moderate effect. Rare and highly penetrant alleles have been identified by linkage studies, including on 6q23–25. Though not common, some germline mutations have also been identified via sequencing studies. Ongoing genomics studies aim to identify additional high penetrance germline susceptibility alleles for this deadly disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Cancer Genetics)
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