This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Novel marker may assist in reversing retinoblastoma progression risk in children
J Cell Physiol. 2010:223(1);143-150.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The 16INK4A gene could possibly be important in halting progression of retinoblastoma in children though inactivation of the gene, a study found.
"The finding that the expression of p16INK4A was reduced both in patients and their parents in our samples suggests that this alteration could be a novel marker of an inheritable susceptibility to retinoblastoma in young patients," study author Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, said in a press release from the Sbarro Health Research Organization.
The study was conducted at the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia and at the University of Siena in Siena, Italy.
According to the press release, the study looked at blood samples of 29 patients and their parents.
In five of 11 (45%) retinoblastoma tumor specimens, low to moderate 16INK4A protein expression was found.
In 16 of 29 (55%) retinoblastoma patients compared with normal controls, a reduction in p16INK4A RNA expression was found in the blood, which was "correlated with the demethylation, or reduction, of the p16INK4A gene."
Follow OSNSuperSite.com
on Twitter.