The association of benign and malignant polyps of the large intestine.
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We recently identified the Modifier of Min 2 (Mom2) locus. Mom2 is a new modifier of intestinal tumorigenesis that resulted from a spontaneous mutation in a B6 Apc(Min)/+ mouse. The presence of one resistant Mom2(R) allele results in a significant reduction in small intestinal polyp number and colon polyp incidence in Apc(Min)/+ mice. Through linkage analysis, we previously localized Mom2 to a 14-cM region on mouse Chromosome (Chr) 18, distal to the Apc gene. This region is syntenic with human Chr 18q, which frequently undergoes loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in several human cancers, including colorectal cancer. Residing in this region are the Madh2 and Madh4 genes, which have both been implicated in human colorectal cancer. Based on meiotic recombinations within the Mom2 region in the derivation of our congenic animals, we have narrowed the location of the Mom2 locus and excluded Madh2, Madh4, and Madh7, as well as Mbd1, Mbd2, Dcc, and Tcf4, as candidates for the Mom2 gene.
UNLABELLED: Some patients with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome may be disturbed by the appearance of lentigines. Such patients require management of their lentigines as well as their gastro-intestinal polyps. We describe ruby laser therapy of labial lentigines in two children with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome. The response to treatment was excellent and no sequelae or recurrence of the lesions was noted. CONCLUSION: Our experience suggests that ruby laser therapy is safe and a suitable approach for the treatment of labial lentigines in children with Peutz-Jeghers syndrome.
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Colon cancer accounts for over 10% of all cancers diagnosed from 1973 to 1976 in the United States. Many factors have been identified as having a role in its etiology, including the intestinal microflora, colonic mutagens, bile acids, cholesterol, estrogens, and diet. The evidence supporting or refuting the importance of each of these factors and others is discussed. Dietary factors appear to be the most important risk determinants for colon cancer. In particular, a high-fat, low-fiber diet has been most consistently incriminated as a promoting agent of this cancer. The incidence of colon cancer and consumption of total fat and animal protein are highly correlated internationally. However, further epidemiologic studies have given equivocal results. A high-fiber diet has been proposed as being protective against colon cancer although the mechanism of protection remains unclear. A major correlational study has shown that dietary fiber consumption was higher in areas with low incidence of colon cancer than in those areas with high incidence. A few case-control studies have been supportive of the fiber hypothesis but many more have shown no difference among cases and controls in their fiber consumption. More epidemiological studies are needed to clarify the role of diet in the etiology of colon cancer. Before a dietary change is recommended, the competing risks of other cancers and other diseases should be extensively researched.
The evolution and phenotypic expression of mucosal lesions of the gastric stump were investigated in male rats submitted to gastric resection with reconstruction by the Billroth II technique (BII with biliopancreatic reflux, BPR) or by the Roux-en-Y procedure (without BPR). Animals were studied at 24, 36, 54 and 64 weeks after surgery and the phenotypic expression of lesions analysed using routine hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining for pepsinogen isoenzyme 1 and histochemical procedures for mucins (paradoxical concanavalin A, galactose oxidase Schiff (GOS) and sialidase GOS reactions). BPR was found to be responsible for the formation of adenomatous hyperplasia (AH), increasing in incidence and size with time, since the Roux-en-Y procedure failed to induce the gastric stump lesions observed after BII reconstruction. AHs always occurred in the transition of the gastrojejunal junction, a site offering special conditions for BPR influence, and were classified as gastric (G), intestinal (I) and G+I types according to their phenotypic expression. No pure I type AH was diagnosed at any time point. The G and G+I types developed at approximately equal incidences (i.e., G type 7/17, G+I type 10/17 at the 64th week). It was suggested that both gastric and intestinal mucosal elements were stimulated to proliferate by BPR, with the gastric mucosa tending to demonstrate AH. Intestinal type components of AH were found adjacent to the jejunum and not at the stomach margin, indicating an origin from intestinal mucosa. No metaplasia of the gastric mucosa was observed in any animal after partial gastric resection. In 101 rats submitted to the BII procedure, 5 mucinous adenocarcinomas were eventually diagnosed, mostly located in the subserosa of the gastrojejunal junction. All carcinomas expressed the phenotype of cells of the small intestine. Evidence of malignant transformation within the gastric components of AH was not observed even at the 64th week. In conclusion, all lesions induced by BPR in the rat remnant stomach are benign, and the few true cancers that arise in association are derived from the small intestine.
Cutaneous lipoma is rare in children, but it can be part of a syndrome such as the Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome (BRRS). The BRRS is a dominant autosomal disorder characterized by cutaneous lipomas, macrocephaly, intestinal polyps, and developmental delay associated with PTEN gene mutations. This syndrome is thought to represent a pediatric form of the Cowden syndrome, characterized among other features by an increased risk of cancer. We report 5 cases of BRRS, all diagnosed in children with lipoma and macrocephaly. Children presenting with lipomas need a complete physical examination to look for other signs of BRRS, because they may need further follow-up for tumor screening in adulthood.
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major polyphenol present in white tea and green tea. Recently, it was reported that the addition of EGCG and other tea polyphenols to cell culture media, minus cells, generated significant levels of H(2)O(2), with the corollary that this might represent an "artifact" in cell culture studies which seek to examine the chemopreventive mechanisms of tea. We show here that in cell growth media with and without serum, and in growth media containing human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells plus serum, physiologically relevant concentrations of EGCG (< or =25 microM) generated H(2)O(2) with a peak concentration of the order of 10-12 microM. However, addition of 20 microM H(2)O(2) directly to HEK293 cells transiently transfected with wild-type or mutant beta-catenin constructs and TCF-4 had no significant effect on beta-catenin/TCF-4 reporter activity or beta-catenin expression levels. In contrast, 2-25 microM EGCG inhibited beta-catenin/TCF-4 reporter activity in a concentration-dependent fashion and there was a concomitant reduction in beta-catenin protein levels in the cell lysates without changes in TCF-4 expression. The inhibition of reporter activity was recapitulated by white tea and green tea, each tested at a 25 microM EGCG equivalent concentration in the assay, and this was unaffected by the addition of exogenous catalase. The results indicate that physiologically relevant concentrations of tea and EGCG inhibit beta-catenin/TCF-4 reporter activity in HEK293 cells due to reduced expression of beta-catenin and that this is unlikely to be an artifact of H(2)O(2) generation under the assay conditions used here. These data are consistent with the findings from in vivo studies, showing the suppression of intestinal polyps by tea, via an apparent down-regulation of beta-catenin and Wnt target genes.
Tumor suppressor Apc (adenomatous polyposis coli) is implicated in the Wnt signaling pathway that is involved in the early embryonic development and tumorigenesis in vertebrates. While the heterozygous null mutant mice develop intestinal polyps, the homozygous embryos die before gastrulation. To investigate the role of Apc in later embryonic development, we constructed a novel hypomorphic Apc allele whose expression was attenuated by approximately 80%. In the hypomorphic Apc homozygous ES cells, reduction in Apc expression caused beta-catenin accumulation and Wnt signaling activation. The homozygous mutant mouse embryos survived 3 days longer than the null mutant embryos. Interestingly, they showed anterior truncation, partial axis duplication, and defective ventral morphogenesis. To determine the tissues where Apc functions for anterior and ventral morphogenesis, we constructed chimeric embryos whose epiblast was derived predominantly from the Apc hypomorphic homozygous cells but the visceral endoderm was from the wild type. Although these chimeric embryos still showed some anterior defects, their ventral morphogenesis was rescued. In addition, marker studies indicated that the axial mesendoderm was also defective in the homozygous embryos. Our results provide genetic evidence that expression of Apc at the normal level is essential for both anterior and ventral development, in the epiblast derivatives and visceral endoderm.
We investigated whether the therapeutic action of sulindac, used for the treatment of familial adenomatous polyposis, desmoid tumors, and against colon cancer, could be mediated by its active metabolite, sulindac sulfide, in cell growth and apoptosis on cell lines derived from abdominal neoplasms. Sulindac sulfide actions on cell growth and apoptosis were evaluated in epithelial human colon tumor 8 (HCT8) cell line and mesenchymal cell lines (bovine bone endothelial (BBE) cell line, desmoid tumor-derived cells, human colorectal cancer-derived fibroblasts). Sulindac sulfide (0.1-60 microg/ml) induced a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation of all cell lines tested. Apoptosis was induced at doses of 20 and 40 microg/ml, respectively, in BBE and HCT8 cells with no effect on desmoid tumor cells and colorectal cancer-derived fibroblasts. Since mesenchymal cells respond to clinically effective concentrations of the compound, its preferential action on the stromal compartment of intestinal polyps, desmoid tumors and colon cancer can be proposed, with consequent regression of the tumor.
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Wingless/Wnt signaling directs cell-fate choices during embryonic development. In Drosophila, Wingless signaling mediates endoderm induction and the establishment of segment polarity in the developing embryo. The fly Wingless cascade is strikingly similar to the vertebrate Wnt signaling pathway, which controls a number of key developmental decisions such as dorsal-ventral patterning in Xenopus. Factors of the TCF/LEF HMG domain family (Tcfs) have recently been established as the downstream effectors of the Wingless/Wnt signal transduction pathways. Upon Wingless/Wnt signaling, a cascade is initiated that results in the accumulation of cytoplasmic beta-catenin (or its fly homolog, Armadillo). There is also a concomitant translocation of beta-catenin/Armadillo to the nucleus, where it interacts with a specific sequence motif at the N terminus of Tcfs to generate a transcriptionally active complex. This bipartite transcription factor is targeted to the upstream regulatory regions of Tcf target genes including Siamois and Nodal related gene-3 in Xenopus, engrailed and Ultrabithorax in Drosophila via the sequence-specific HMG box, and mediates their transcriptional activation by virtue of transactivation domains contributed by beta-catenin/Armadillo. In the absence of Wingless/Wnt signals, a key negative regulator of the pathway, GSK3 beta, is activated, which mediates the downregulation of cytoplasmic beta-catenin/Armadillo via the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. In the absence of nuclear beta-catenin, the Tcfs recruit the corepressor protein Groucho to the target gene enhancers and actively repress their transcription. An additional corepressor protein, CREB-binding protein (CBP), may also be involved in this repression of Tcf target gene activity. Several other proteins, including adenomatous polyposis coli (APC), GSK3 beta, and Axin/Conductin, are instrumental in the regulation of beta-catenin/Armadillo. In APC-deficient colon carcinoma cell lines, beta-catenin accumulates and is constitutively complexed with nuclear Tcf-4. A proportion of APC wild-type colon carcinomas and melanomas also contains constitutive nuclear Tcf-4/beta-catenin complexes as a result of dominant mutations in the N terminus of beta-catenin that render it insensitive to downregulation by APC, GSK3 beta, and Axin/Conductin. This results in the unregulated expression of Tcf-4 target genes such as c-myc. Based on the established role for Tcf-4 in maintaining intestinal stem cells it is likely that deregulation of c-myc expression as a result of constitutive Tcf-4/beta-catenin activity promotes uncontrolled intestinal cell proliferation. This would readily explain the formation of intestinal polyps during colon carcinogenesis. Similar mechanisms leading to deregulation of Tcf target gene activity are likely to be involved in melanoma and other forms of cancer.
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Earlier work had suggested that patients with large-bowel cancer can be characterized by carriage of clostridia capable of dehydrogenating the nucleus of steroids and by high faecal bile-acid concentrations. Familial polyposis is an inherited disease which untreated, will progress to cancer of the large bowel, and those affected might be expected to have these metabolic characteristics. However, enviromental factors seem to play no part in polyposis. Investigation of as yet unaffected children of known polyposis patients revealed that the gut flora of half of them did not degrade cholesterol in vivo andnor did flora from patients in whom polyposis had already been diagnosed. The reason for this is unknown, but if the same patients develop polyposis (i.e., they carry the abnormal gene) we would have a simple diagnostic test which could replace the continuing follow-up now required for the siblings and children of patients with polyposis.