[Cytomolecular aspects of colorectal carcinoma]

This report reviewed recent remarkable progresses on the cytomolecular mechanisms in colorectal carcinogenesis. Colorectal carcinoma is a good model for the study of multi-step progression, because we can obtain adenomatous polyps which are considered as a precancerous form. Furthermore, a familial syndrome, which is characterized by numerous adenomas of the colon, is available for linkage analysis. Recently, the p53 and DCC genes have been identified as candidate tumor suppressor genes on chromosome 17p and 18q respectively. In this paper, we present the multiple genetic alterations in colorectal carcinoma, including activation of K-ras gene and inactivation of tumor suppressor gene such as p53 and DCC genes as well as loss of heterozygosity and approach to the gene responsible for adenomatous polyposis coli by reverse genetics.