[HNPCC-associated stomach carcinomas display aggressive growth in orthotopic transplantation to the SCID mouse]

The accumulation of malignant tumors in a single family, as well as the early onset of the disease, are highly suggestive of a hereditary condition. The evidence of microsatellite instabilities suggest a disease that might be associated with the HNPCC-syndromee. In contrary to the favourable prognosis of colorectal cancer associated with the HNPCC-syndromee we found in our animal model a far more aggressive progression of the disease in patients with HNPCC-associated gastric carcinomas than in patients with sporadic gastric carcinomas. This observation is consistent with the clinical course. Therefore, gastric carcinomas that are associated with the HNPCC-syndromee seem to represent a separate group of HNPCC-associated carcinomas and may even represent another hereditary disease.