Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 12, 2026

Generation of Tumor Organoids from Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of Prostate Cancer
08:54

Generation of Tumor Organoids from Genetically Engineered Mouse Models of Prostate Cancer

Published on: June 13, 2019

11.4K

Improving the genetic signature of prostate cancer, the somatic mutations

Luis Javier Martinez-Gonzalez1, Manrique Pascual Geler2, Inmaculada Robles Fernandez1

  • 1GENYO (Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research), Av. Ilustracion, 114 - PTS - 18016 Granada, Spain.

Urologic Oncology
|April 14, 2018
PubMed
Abstract

Insights

Somatic mutations in KIT, KRAS, and TP53 genes are prevalent in prostate cancer (PC). KIT gene mutations correlate with aggressive PC, but environmental factors showed no significant impact on somatic mutations in PC patients.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Genetics
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Prostate cancer (PC) progression involves genetic alterations, including somatic mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes.
  • The precise molecular drivers of sporadic PC, arising from post-birth gene damage, are not fully understood.
  • Somatic mutations are implicated in metastatic disease and varied treatment responses in PC.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the prevalence of key somatic mutations in prostate cancer (PC) patients.
  • To explore the association between specific somatic mutations and PC aggressiveness.
  • To assess the influence of environmental factors on somatic mutation occurrence in PC.

Main Methods:

  • Evaluation of prostate biopsies from 125 individuals with PSA > 4 ng/mL.
  • Analysis focused on common somatic mutation genes: PIK3CA, TP53, EGFR, KIT, KRAS, PTEN, and BRAF.
  • Comparison of mutation status between PC-affected and unaffected subjects.

Main Results:

  • KIT gene mutations were significantly associated with aggressive PC (higher TNM stages, Gleason score, and D'Amico risk).
  • KRAS, KIT, and TP53 were the most frequently mutated genes in PC patients.
  • No significant correlation was found between environmental factors (smoking, diet, alcohol, workplace exposure) and somatic mutation presence.

Conclusions:

  • KIT, KRAS, and TP53 genes show a higher prevalence in prostate cancer patients.
  • Mutations in the KIT gene are linked to more aggressive forms of PC.
  • Environmental factors do not appear to influence the presence of somatic mutations in PC.
Keywords:
HormonoresistantKIT geneProstate cancerSomatic mutationTreatment

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Advancing Prostate Cancer Research Through Improved Tissue Sampling and Biobanking07:34

Author Spotlight: Advancing Prostate Cancer Research Through Improved Tissue Sampling and Biobanking

Published on: November 17, 2023

1.2K
Detecting Somatic Genetic Alterations in Tumor Specimens by Exon Capture and Massively Parallel Sequencing11:02

Detecting Somatic Genetic Alterations in Tumor Specimens by Exon Capture and Massively Parallel Sequencing

Published on: October 18, 2013

20.0K

Related Concept Videos

Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell02:21

Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell

Cancer arises from mutations in the critical genes that allow healthy cells to escape cell cycle regulation and acquire the ability to proliferate indefinitely. Though originating from a single mutation event in one of the originator cells, cancer progresses when the mutant cell lines continue to gain more and more mutations, and finally, become malignant. For example, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) develops initially as a non-lethal increase in white blood cells, which progressively...
15.0K
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
64.6K
Mutations01:39

Mutations

Overview
94.6K
Mutations01:35

Mutations

Mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA. These changes can occur spontaneously or they can be induced by exposure to environmental factors. Mutations can be characterized in a number of different ways: whether and how they alter the amino acid sequence of the protein, whether they occur over a small or large area of DNA, and whether they occur in somatic cells or germline cells.
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
44.7K
Viral Mutations00:36

Viral Mutations

A mutation is a change in the sequence of bases of DNA or RNA in a genome. Some mutations occur during replication of the genome due to errors made by the polymerase enzymes that replicate DNA or RNA. Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase is prone to errors because it is not capable of “proofreading” its work. Viruses with RNA-based genomes, like HIV, therefore accrue mutations faster than viruses with DNA-based genomes. Because mutation and recombination provide the raw material...
40.0K
Animal Mitochondrial Genetics02:59

Animal Mitochondrial Genetics

Among all the organelles in an animal cell, only mitochondria have their own independent genomes. Animal mitochondrial DNA is a double-stranded, closed-circular molecule with around 20,000 base pairs. Mitochondrial DNA is unique in that one of its two strands, the heavy, or H, -strand is guanine rich, whereas the complementary strand is cytosine rich and called the light, or L, -strand. Compared to nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA has a very low percentage of non-coding regions and is marked by...
9.3K