Gene Expression Profiles in Normal and Cancer Cells

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 276; no. 5316; pp. 1268 - 1272
• Main Authors: Zhang, Lin, Zhou, Wei, Velculescu, Victor E., Kern, Scott E., Hruban, Ralph H., Hamilton, Stanley R., Vogelstein, Bert, Kinzler, Kenneth W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Society for the Advancement of Science 23-05-1997; American Association for the Advancement of Science; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Cancer; Cancer cells; Cell lines; Cell physiology; Cell transformation and carcinogenesis. Action of oncogenes and antioncogenes; Colon; Colorectal Neoplasms - genetics; Computer Simulation; Digestive system; Digestive system cancer; Digestive System Physiological Phenomena; Epithelium; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Gastrointestinal cancer; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms - genetics; Gene Expression; Genes; Genetic aspects; Humans; Medical research; Medical sciences; Messenger RNA; Molecular and cellular biology; Pancreatic neoplasms; Profiles; Reference Values; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Transcripts (Written Records); Tumor cell line; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumors; Human; Gene; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Tumor; Colon; Gene expression; Pancreas; Tumor cell; Pancreatic disease; Quantitative analysis
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.276.5316.1268

As a step toward understanding the complex differences between normal and cancer cells in humans, gene expression patterns were examined in gastrointestinal tumors. More than 300,000 transcripts derived from at least 45,000 different genes were analyzed. Although extensive similarity was noted between the expression profiles, more than 500 transcripts that were expressed at significantly different levels in normal and neoplastic cells were identified. These data provide insight into the extent of expression differences underlying malignancy and reveal genes that may prove useful as diagnostic or prognostic markers.