Abstract
Cancer is a single disease and it is a hundred diseases. To understand and treat cancer, we must know the foe: its morphology, its deregulated genes and pathways, and the patterns of chromosomal alterations that are associated with malignant transformation. In order to do this, we need molecular tools to link the visible alterations of clinical disease with the underlying genes and emerging genome sequences. Our laboratory has developed such ‘tools’ by creating an integrated BAC/PAC Resource for the entire genome by using high resolution fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) followed by integration with the genetic, STS and radiation hybrid maps. This resource now covers 30% of the entire human genome, and contains >1,000 STS-linked BACs (Korenberg et al., 1999) and >6,000 mapped BAC/PAC clones.
The goal is to construct an integrated overlapping array of molecular cytogenetic markers that covers 90% of the genome for rapid detection of cancer breakpoints and subtle aneuploidies using a combination of FISH and array technologies. Using this resource, we have already identified an oncogene associated with thyroid tumors (Chen et al, 1998). The ultimate intent will be to define characteristic diagnostic signatures for staged tumors as well as prognostic signatures to sensitively reflect the response to treatment. We propose that the generation of such a resource would best be accomplished by integration of current efforts. This will speed the understanding of cancers and ultimately the treatment of our aging population.
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Chen, X., Shi, Z., Shizuya, H. et al. An Integrated BAC/PAC Resource for identifying chromosomal abnormalities in solid tumors. Genet Med 2, 66 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1097/00125817-200001000-00062
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00125817-200001000-00062