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Testing Targeted Therapies in Cancer using Structural DNA Alteration Analysis and Patient-Derived Xenografts
Published on: July 25, 2020
Novel insights into extrachromosomal DNA: redefining the onco-drivers of tumor progression
Xiang Gu1,2, Jie Yu1,2, Peiwei Chai1,2
1Department of Ophthalmology, Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai JiaoTong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 20025, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA), gene-encoding extrachromosomal particles of DNA, is often present in tumor cells. Recent studies have revealed that oncogene amplification via ecDNA is widespread across a diverse range of cancers. ecDNA is involved in increasing tumor heterogeneity, reverting tumor phenotypes, and enhancing gene expression and tumor resistance to chemotherapy, indicating that it plays a significant role in tumorigenesis. In this review, we summarize the characteristics and genesis of ecDNA, connect these characteristics with their concomitant influences on tumorigenesis, enumerate the oncogenes encoded by ecDNA in multiple cancers, elaborate the roles of ecDNA in tumor pathogenesis and progression, and propose the considerable research and therapeutic prospects of ecDNA in cancer.
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