CANCER and MSI: Novel approaches towards the diagnosis and therapy of tumours with microsatellite instability.

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 00.0140

Key words (English)

Colon cancer; HNPCC; microsatellite instability; mismatch repair; chemotherapy;
Life Sciences; Medicine; Health; Scientific Research

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: QLG1-CT-2000-01230

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.8 Generic R&D activities

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
Universität Zürich
Institute of Melecular Cancer Research

Partners and International Organizations (English)

University of Leiden (NL), Istituto Superiore di Sanita (I), Istituto Dermopatico dell'Immaccolata (I), University of Helsinki (FIN), University of Roskilde (DK), Slovak Academy of Sciences (SK)

Abstract (English)

A large percentage of tumours from hereditary non-polyposis colon cancer (HNPCC) patients, as well as more than 15% of sporadic colon tumours, display microsatellite instability (MSI) , which has been linked to a defect in mismatch correction (MMR) . Tumour cells with high MSI (MSI-H) differ from other cancer cells: they are largely diploid and the oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes mutated in them are frequently different from those altered in sporadic disease without MSI. We shall compare the response of normal and MSI-H cells to a series of chemotherapeutic and radio-mimetic agents, as well as to ionising and non-ionising radiation. The principal aim of this program is to exploit the identified differences in cancer therapy, by devising ways of selectively killing cells with MSI. The second goal of the study is to use our findings to develop new, facile, diagnostic strategies for the identification of at-risk individuals.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 00.0140