<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><bold>Background.</bold> Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. In 75% CRC develops sporadically, in 25% hereditary or as a consequence of inflammatory bowel disease. CRC carcinogenesis develops over many years. The cause of CRC in 85% is chromosomal instability (CIN) and in 15% microsatellite instability (MSI-H), where hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) represents 10-20%. Microsatellite sequences (MS) are repeated sequences of short stretches of DNA all over the genome. Microsatellite stability (MSS) means MS are the same in each cell of an individual, whereas microsatellite instability (MSI-H) means MS differ in normal and cancer cells of an individual. The cause of MSI-H is a damaged mismatch repair mechanism (MMR), with the most important MMR proteins being MSH2, MLH1 and MSH6.</p><p><bold>Conclusions.</bold> MSI-H seems to be an important prognostic factor in CRC and an important predictive factor of CRC chemotherapeutic treatment efficacy. Clinical trials conducted until now have shown contradictory findings in different chemotherapeutic settings, adjuvant and palliative; therefore MSI-H is going to be the object of the future research. The future of cancer treatment is in the individualized therapy based on molecular characteristics of the tumour, such as MSI-H in CRC.</p></abstract>

Background. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. In 75% CRC develops sporadically, in 25% hereditary or as a consequence of inflammatory bowel disease. CRC carcinogenesis develops over many years. The cause of CRC in 85% is chromosomal instability (CIN) and in 15% microsatellite instability (MSI-H), where hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) represents 10-20%. Microsatellite sequences (MS) are repeated sequences of short stretches of DNA all over the genome. Microsatellite stability (MSS) means MS are the same in each cell of an individual, whereas microsatellite instability (MSI-H) means MS differ in normal and cancer cells of an individual. The cause of MSI-H is a damaged mismatch repair mechanism (MMR), with the most important MMR proteins being MSH2, MLH1 and MSH6.Conclusions. MSI-H seems to be an important prognostic factor in CRC and an important predictive factor of CRC chemotherapeutic treatment efficacy. Clinical trials conducted until now have shown contradictory findings in different chemotherapeutic settings, adjuvant and palliative; therefore MSI-H is going to be the object of the future research. The future of cancer treatment is in the individualized therapy based on molecular characteristics of the tumour, such as MSI-H in CRC.

Microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer

University Medical Centre Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia

Department of Gastroenterology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia

Radiology and Oncology

{"article-title":"Microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer"}

Background. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer in the world. In 75% CRC develops sporadically, in 25% hereditary or as a consequence of...

Microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer

Published Online: Mar 15, 2011

Page range: 75 - 81

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10019-011-0005-8

Keywords
colorectal cancer, microsatellite instability, chemotherapy

This content is open access.

Microsatellite instability in colorectal cancer

Published Online: Mar 15, 2011

Page range: 75 - 81

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/v10019-011-0005-8

Keywordscolorectal cancer, microsatellite instability, chemotherapy

This content is open access.

Keywords
colorectal cancer, microsatellite instability, chemotherapy