Progress towards personalized medicine for ameloblastoma

Ameloblastoma is a locally infiltrative benign odontogenic neoplasm. Tumours may be large, destructive and recurrent, requiring radical surgery with associated facial deformity and morbidity. The molecular pathogenesis of this tumour has been unclear, retarding the development of non‐invasive gene‐t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of pathology 2014-04, Vol.232 (5), p.488-491
Main Authors: Gomes, Carolina C, Diniz, Marina G, Gomez, Ricardo S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ameloblastoma
Ameloblastoma - genetics
Biomarkers, Tumor - genetics
BRAF
Female
Humans
Jaw Neoplasms - genetics
Male
molecular pathogenesis
Mutation
odontogenic tumours
Proto-Oncogene Proteins B-raf - genetics
targeted therapy
tumour heterogeneity
tumour microenvironment
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Summary:Ameloblastoma is a locally infiltrative benign odontogenic neoplasm. Tumours may be large, destructive and recurrent, requiring radical surgery with associated facial deformity and morbidity. The molecular pathogenesis of this tumour has been unclear, retarding the development of non‐invasive gene‐targeted therapies. In a recent paper in this journal, Kurppa et al. [4] showed that EGFR‐targeted therapy blocked cell proliferation in an ameloblastoma primary cell culture. That this therapy was not effective in another primary cell culture led to the discovery of the oncogenic BRAF V600E mutation in a high proportion (63%) of ameloblastoma samples. By defining two separate pathways, both of which can be specifically targeted, these findings are an important step towards personalized medicine of ameloblastoma. We discuss the findings in the broader context of ameloblastoma, as well as the effects of tumour microenvironment and molecular heterogeneity that need to be taken into account when considering the use of personalized therapies based on specific genetic mutations in individual patients. Copyright © 2014 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
ISSN:0022-3417
1096-9896
DOI:10.1002/path.4331