This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rashid, A. Articles by Hsing, A. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rashid, A. Articles by Hsing, A. W.

ß-Catenin Mutations in Biliary Tract Cancers

A Population-based Study in China

Department of Pathology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas 77030-4095 [A.R., S.B.]; Shanghai Cancer Institute [Y-T.G., J.D.], Department of Pathology, Shanghai Cancer Hospital [M-C.S.], and Department of General Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital [B-S.W.], Shanghai, China; and Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 [J.F.F., A.W.H.]

ß-Catenin is an ubiquitously expressed cytoplasmic protein that has a crucial role in both cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion and as a downstream signaling molecule in the wingless/Wnt pathway. Activating mutations in exon 3 of the ß-catenin gene, at the phosphorylation sites for ubiquitination and degradation of ß-catenin, are present in a variety of cancers. Because alterations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene are present in biliary tract cancers and the APC protein modulates levels of ß-catenin, we evaluated the role of ß-catenin in biliary tract cancer by sequencing the third exon of the ß-catenin gene among 107 biliary tract cancers and 7 gallbladder adenomas from a population-based study in China. Point mutations of serine or threonine phosphorylation sites in exon 3 of ß-catenin were present in 8 of 107 (7.5%) biliary tract cancers and 4 of 7 (57.1%) gallbladder adenomas. Mutations of ß-catenin were more frequent in ampullary and gallbladder carcinomas than in bile duct carcinomas (P = 0.04) and in papillary adenocarcinomas than other histological types of carcinomas (P = 0.02). These results suggest that the molecular pathways of biliary tract neoplasms vary by anatomical subsite and histological subtype.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Andreotti, J. Chen, Y.-T. Gao, A. Rashid, B. E. Chen, P. Rosenberg, L. C. Sakoda, J. Deng, M.-C. Shen, B.-S. Wang, et al. Polymorphisms of Genes in the Lipid Metabolism Pathway and Risk of Biliary Tract Cancers and Stones: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Shanghai, China Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., March 1, 2008; 17(3): 525 - 534. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Rashid, T. Ueki, Y.-T. Gao, P. S. Houlihan, C. Wallace, B.-S. Wang, M.-C. Shen, J. Deng, and A. W. Hsing K-ras Mutation, p53 Overexpression, and Microsatellite Instability in Biliary Tract Cancers: A Population-based Study in China Clin. Cancer Res., October 1, 2002; 8(10): 3156 - 3163. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]