Endocrine-related cancer
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Endocrine-related cancer · Jun 2014
Frequent EPAS1/HIF2α exons 9 and 12 mutations in non-familial pheochromocytoma.
Pheochromocytomas are neuroendocrine tumors arising from the adrenal medulla. While heritable mutations are frequently described, less is known about the genetics of sporadic pheochromocytoma. Mutations in genes involved in the cellular hypoxia response have been identified in tumors, and recently EPAS1, encoding HIF2α, has been revealed to be a new gene involved in the pathogenesis of pheochromocytoma and abdominal paraganglioma. ⋯ One sample had two different EPAS1 mutations, shown by cloning to occur in cis, possibly indicating a novel mechanism of HIF2α stabilization through inactivation of both hydroxylation sites. One of the tumors with an EPAS1 mutation also had a gain in DNA copy number at the EPAS1 locus. All EPAS1-mutated tumors displayed a pseudo-hypoxic gene expression pattern, indicating an oncogenic role of the identified mutations.