Oncogene and tumor suppressor gene expression changes in the peripheral blood leukocytes of patients with colorectal cancer
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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Discovery of Driver Genes in Colorectal HT29-derived Cancer Stem-Like Tumorspheres
Published on: July 22, 2020
Zsolt Csontos1, Edit Nádasi, András Csejtey
1Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pécs University of Sciences, Pécs, Hungary.
Aims And Background:
The mortality of colorectal cancer continues to stagnate despite the development of new therapeutic approaches. Therefore, identifying high-risk population groups could contribute to the prevention of a considerable part of deaths caused by colorectal tumors.
Methods:
Fifty patients with colon cancer and 50 patients with other, nonmalignant diseases were selected for the study. Expression of the c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 genes was determined in the peripheral leukocytes of the participants.
Results:
Marked elevations of the expression of all three investigated genes were seen in the colon cancer patients when compared to the controls.
Conclusions:
Our investigations showed that increases in the expression of c-myc, Ha-ras and p53 genes can be demonstrated in the peripheral leukocytes of colon cancer patients. By applying our method to clinical investigations, individuals with a high risk of having developed colon cancer may be identified and early diagnosis may be established.
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