The molecular pathology of sarcomas

Issue title: Translational Pathology of Early Cancer

Guest editors: Sudhir Srivastavax and William E. Grizzley

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Powers, Martin^a | Zhang, Wei^b | Lopez-Terrada, Dolores^d | Czerniak, Bogdan A.^b | Lazar, Alexander J.^{b; c; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA | [b] Department of Pathology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA | [c] Sarcoma Research Center, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA | [d] Departments of Pathology, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA | [x] Cancer Biomarkers Research Group, Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA | [y] Department of Pathology, Division of Anatomic Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Alexander J. Lazar, Sarcoma Research Center, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd. – Unit 85, Houston, TX 77030-4009, USA. Tel.: +1 713 563 1843; Fax: +1 713 563 1848; E-mail: alazar@mdanderson.org.

Abstract: Sarcomas are rare malignancies of mesenchymal lineage with more than 100 specific types and many benign potential mimics. In situ and precursor lesions are generally not described and thus much of molecular pathology in this field concentrates on molecular diagnosis, prognosis and determination of therapeutic targets. This chapter discusses the applications of molecular methodologies that provide insight into pathogenesis of sarcoma, and of molecular methods which are currently applied to, or will likely soon influence, the clinical management of this complex array of tumors.

Keywords: Sarcoma, translocation, EWSR1, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), fluoresence in-situ hybridization (FISH), fusion transcript, molecular diagnostics, pigmented villonodular synovitis, Ewing sarcoma, gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), KIT, PDGRA, karyotype, desmoid fibromatosis, beta-catenin (CTNNB1), malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor (MPNST), leiomyosarcoma, genomic profiling

DOI: 10.3233/CBM-2011-0170

Journal: Cancer Biomarkers, vol. 9, no. 1-6, pp. 475-491, 2011