Together, colorectal (CRC) and bladder cancer (BlCa) are responsible for a large percentage of cancer related morbidity and mortality in Western society. A dramatic reduction in patient survival occurs as these cancers progress towards invasive and metastatic disease, from a five year survival rate of about 90% for localised disease to approximately 5-10% for advanced disease involving distant metastasis. A greater understanding of disease progression will lead to enhanced screening, diagnostic and treatment strategies, in turn providing an improved prognosis for the patient. The purpose of this study was to expand the current molecular knowledge of CRC and BlCa by elucidating the role of Mxi1 mutations and MTSS1 expression in CRC and BlCa respectively, and to examine the diagnostic potential of these genes. The Mxi1 coding region for 41 tumours, collected by the South Western Sydney Colorectal Cancer Tumour Bank from 2000-2001, was screened for mutations using Dideoxy Fingerprinting (ddF) and sequencing. Sequence alterations were detected in 34% of tumours. Three different polymorphisms and three mutations were detected. One mutation could possibly affect the tumour suppressor function of Mxi1. The presence of a gene mutation did not correlate to any clinical characteristics and is therefore not a suitable diagnostic marker. Microsatellite instability (MSI) status however, significantly correlated with tumour grade. Expression levels of MTSS1 and an associated gene, MTSS2, were examined in 16 BlCa cell lines, 9 clonally-derived BlCa sublines, and 30 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) collected by the Heinrich-Heine University from 1993-2000. Variable gene expression was observed in BlCa cell lines and tumour samples. No significant correlation of MTSS expression and invasive ability was observed for the cell lines or tumour samples. Further studies eliminated promoter methylation and p53 functional status as mechanisms involved in MTSS1 and MTSS2 down-regulation. Functional studies performed on stable MTSS1-expressing BlCa lines found that although migration was increased, cells displayed reduced anchorage-independent growth. The invasive ability of these cells was unchanged confirming that expression does not correlate with invasive ability. These data support the role of MTSS1 as a tumour suppressor and not as a metastasis suppressor gene. Although MTSS1 may not be useful in predicting more invasive disease, its role as a tumour suppressor in cancer may be useful.

Together, colorectal (CRC) and bladder cancer (BlCa) are responsible for a large percentage of cancer related morbidity and mortality in Western society. A dramatic reduction in patient survival occurs as these cancers progress towards invasive and metastatic disease, from a five year survival rate of about 90% for localised disease to approximately 5-10% for advanced disease involving distant metastasis. A greater understanding of disease progression will lead to enhanced screening, diagnostic and treatment strategies, in turn providing an improved prognosis for the patient. The purpose of this study was to expand the current molecular knowledge of CRC and BlCa by elucidating the role of Mxi1 mutations and MTSS1 expression in CRC and BlCa respectively, and to examine the diagnostic potential of these genes. The Mxi1 coding region for 41 tumours, collected by the South Western Sydney Colorectal Cancer Tumour Bank from 2000-2001, was screened for mutations using Dideoxy Fingerprinting (ddF) and sequencing. Sequence alterations were detected in 34% of tumours. Three different polymorphisms and three mutations were detected. One mutation could possibly affect the tumour suppressor function of Mxi1. The presence of a gene mutation did not correlate to any clinical characteristics and is therefore not a suitable diagnostic marker. Microsatellite instability (MSI) status however, significantly correlated with tumour grade. Expression levels of MTSS1 and an associated gene, MTSS2, were examined in 16 BlCa cell lines, 9 clonally-derived BlCa sublines, and 30 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) collected by the Heinrich-Heine University from 1993-2000. Variable gene expression was observed in BlCa cell lines and tumour samples. No significant correlation of MTSS expression and invasive ability was observed for the cell lines or tumour samples. Further studies eliminated promoter methylation and p53 functional status as mechanisms involved in MTSS1 and MTSS2 down-regulation. Functional studies performed on stable MTSS1-expressing BlCa lines found that although migration was increased, cells displayed reduced anchorage-independent growth. The invasive ability of these cells was unchanged confirming that expression does not correlate with invasive ability. These data support the role of MTSS1 as a tumour suppressor and not as a metastasis suppressor gene. Although MTSS1 may not be useful in predicting more invasive disease, its role as a tumour suppressor in cancer may be useful.

Together, colorectal (CRC) and bladder cancer (BlCa) are responsible for a large percentage of cancer related morbidity and mortality in Western society. A dramatic reduction in patient survival occurs as these cancers progress towards invasive and metastatic disease, from a five year survival rate of about 90% for localised disease to approximately 5-10% for advanced disease involving distant metastasis. A greater understanding of disease progression will lead to enhanced screening, diagnostic and treatment strategies, in turn providing an improved prognosis for the patient. The purpose of this study was to expand the current molecular knowledge of CRC and BlCa by elucidating the role of Mxi1 mutations and MTSS1 expression in CRC and BlCa respectively, and to examine the diagnostic potential of these genes. The Mxi1 coding region for 41 tumours, collected by the South Western Sydney Colorectal Cancer Tumour Bank from 2000-2001, was screened for mutations using Dideoxy Fingerprinting (ddF) and sequencing. Sequence alterations were detected in 34% of tumours. Three different polymorphisms and three mutations were detected. One mutation could possibly affect the tumour suppressor function of Mxi1. The presence of a gene mutation did not correlate to any clinical characteristics and is therefore not a suitable diagnostic marker. Microsatellite instability (MSI) status however, significantly correlated with tumour grade. Expression levels of MTSS1 and an associated gene, MTSS2, were examined in 16 BlCa cell lines, 9 clonally-derived BlCa sublines, and 30 transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) collected by the Heinrich-Heine University from 1993-2000. Variable gene expression was observed in BlCa cell lines and tumour samples. No significant correlation of MTSS expression and invasive ability was observed for the cell lines or tumour samples. Further studies eliminated promoter methylation and p53 functional status as mechanisms involved in MTSS1 and MTSS2 down-regulation. Functional studies performed on stable MTSS1-expressing BlCa lines found that although migration was increased, cells displayed reduced anchorage-independent growth. The invasive ability of these cells was unchanged confirming that expression does not correlate with invasive ability. These data support the role of MTSS1 as a tumour suppressor and not as a metastasis suppressor gene. Although MTSS1 may not be useful in predicting more invasive disease, its role as a tumour suppressor in cancer may be useful.