Fukuyoshi Y et al. (2008), EML4-ALK fusion transcript is not found in gast...

ECB-ART-50196

Br J Cancer 2008 May 06;989:1536-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604341.

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EML4-ALK fusion transcript is not found in gastrointestinal and breast cancers.

Fukuyoshi Y , Inoue H , Kita Y , Utsunomiya T , Ishida T , Mori M .

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Fusion genes have been identified as chromosomal rearrangements in certain cancers, such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and sarcoma. The EML4-ALK (EML4: echinoderm microtubule-associated-protein-like 4; ALK: anaplastic lymphoma kinase) fusion gene has been identified as an oncogene in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study examined the presence of this fusion transcript in gastrointestinal and breast cancers. We evaluated the expression of the EML4-ALK transcript in 104 lung cancer cases and in 645 gastrointestinal and breast cancer samples. Only one of the lung cancer samples tested positive for the EML4-ALK fusion transcript, whereas none were detected in 555 gastrointestinal and 90 breast cancer cases. Our data suggest that the EML4-ALK fusion transcript is not present in gastrointestinal or breast cancers and is specific to NSCLC.

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	Figure 1. Screening of specimens for EML4–ALK mRNA. Representative cases of lung, liver, and oesophageal carcinoma were subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction with primers for EML4–ALK fusion transcript. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA is also shown. Marker, 100 bp DNA ladder.
	Figure 2. Schematic of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealing fusion of EML4 with ALK in a case with non-small-cell lung cancer (adenocarcinoma). Line graph shows the position and automated DNA sequencing of the fusion points (identical to the variant 1 transcript).
	Figure 3. EML4–ALK genomic alterations in non-small-cell lung cancer. Results from three representative cases are shown. EML4–ALK genomic fusion was found in case 3. Marker, λ/HindIII.
	Figure 4. The breakpoints in EML4 and ALK genes. The upper figure shows the structure of EML4–ALK variant 1 described by Soda et al (2007) and the lower figure shows the structure of EML4–ALK that we found. The middle figure shows a wild-type EML4–ALK. Filled and open arrows indicate breakpoints.