[Molecular pathological diagnosis of cancer]

Molecular biological analysis plays an important role for understanding of cancer pathogenesis. For example, accumulation of oncogene and anti-oncogene changes is necessary for cancer development. Molecular pathology is defined as a study field examining clinical materials using molecular biological technique. Even though mechanisms of cancer development and progression has much complexity, molecular pathological findings give a crucial information on clinical medicine, as Ki-ras point mutation and certain allelic loss may convert colon adenoma into carcinoma. Overexpression of EGF/receptor in gastric cancer is a biologic marker for high malignancy. More accumulation of molecular pathological informations will provide a new approach for prospective molecular diagnosis.