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Updated: Apr 15, 2026
Microarray-based Identification of Individual HERV Loci Expression: Application to Biomarker Discovery in Prostate Cancer
Published on: November 2, 2013
HMGA2 expression pattern and TERT mutations in tumors of the vulva
Antonio Agostini1, Ioannis Panagopoulos1, Hege Kilen Andersen1
1Section for Cancer Cytogenetics, Institute for Cancer Genetics and Informatics, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
Malignant tumors of the vulva account for only 5% of cancers of the female genital tract in the USA. The most frequent cancers of the vulva are squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant melanoma (MM). Little is known about the genetic aberrations carried by these tumors. We report a detailed study of 25 vulva tumors [22 SCC, 2 MM, 1 atypical squamous cell hyperplasia (AH)] analyzed for expression of the high-mobility group AT-hook family member genes HMGA2 and HMGA1, for mutations in the IDH1, IDH2 and TERT genes, and for methylation of the MGMT promoter. The RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry analyses showed that HMGA2 was expressed in the great majority of analyzed samples (20 out of 24; SCC as well as MM) but not in the normal controls. HMGA1, on the other hand, was expressed in both tumors and normal tissues. Five of the 24 tumors (all SCC) showed the C228T mutation in the TERT promoter. Our results showed that HMGA2 and TERT may be of importance in the genesis and/or the progression of tumors of the vulva.
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