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Somatic mutations of mitochondrial DNA in digestive tract cancers
Author(s) -
KOSE KAZUHIRO,
HIYAMA TORU,
TANAKA SHINJI,
YOSHIHARA MASAHARU,
YASUI WATARU,
CHAYAMA KAZUAKI
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2005.04015.x
Subject(s) - mitochondrial dna , colorectal cancer , cancer , medicine , carcinogenesis , somatic cell , esophageal cancer , gastrointestinal tract , cancer research , mutation , metastasis , germline mutation , biology , pathology , genetics , gene
Background: Somatic mutations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been reported to play an important role in the carcinogenesis of several human cancers. However, there are few reports on mtDNA mutations in digestive tract cancers, including esophageal, gastric and colorectal cancers. The present study examined somatic mtDNA mutations in these cancers. Methods: Samples of 82 esophageal cancers, 96 gastric cancers and 138 colorectal cancers were collected. Mutations in the D310 mononucleotide repeat of mtDNA were examined by microsatellite assay. Results: Frequencies of mtDNA mutations were similar in each digestive tract cancer: 14% (7/51) in esophageal cancers, 15% (14/94) in gastric cancers and 8% (11/133) in colorectal cancers. There were no significant relationships between mtDNA mutations and clinicopathological features, such as patient age or sex, tumor location, depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis in each digestive tract cancer. Conclusions: The results suggest that mtDNA mutations play a role in the development but not progression in each digestive tract cancer, and that the role of mtDNA mutations might be similar among the digestive tract cancers.