Genetics of Melanomas in Xiphophorus Fishes |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Data are presented from studies on heritable melanoma formation in certain hybrids of Xiphophorus fishes. In the best investigated case, benign and malignant melanomas were caused primarily by hemizygous and homozygous loss, respectively, of a tumor suppressor gene that promoted final pigment cell differentiation, although additional genetic events may be of importance. In other melanoma cases, different genes, most of them presumably also tumor suppressor genes, have been implicated in the development of melanomas and may interact at other levels of pigment cell development, such as commitment, migration, or homing of pigment cell precursors. Importantly, genetic factors have been identified that do not allow melanoma formation despite the loss of tumor suppressor genes. Taken together, these findings stress the complexity of tumorigenesis and the heterogeneity of pathways that lead to cancers of the same histological type. |
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