Abstracts of scientific publications

The development of tumors is in general ascribed to the accumulation of genetic changes in individual somatic cells, with the involvement of specific key genes. The products of these genes are essential for control and regulation of mechanisms for cellular growth and division in the healthy tissue. If cells escape these controls, it will lead to unordered clonal expansion and finally to the development of a tumor. The accumulation of changes can comprise of point mutations and allelic deletions of tumor suppressor genes as well as of the amplification of (proto) oncogenes within the DNA of tumor cells and their precursors. Additionally, many genes are unregulated, resulting in altered mRNA and protein expression patterns. Today the molecular medicine is able to use these findings for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. An important basis therefor are powerful and reliable detection methods as available with the DNA microarray technology.