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Rebecca Voelker

JAMA. 2000;284:3117.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have discovered a genetic marker that could aid in the early diagnosis and effective treatment of esophageal cancer, one of the most aggressive and deadly cancers.

In their analyses of tumor tissue DNA from patients with two types of esophageal cancer, the researchers found that the APC gene, involved in suppressing abnormal cell growth, was deactivated in 92% of patients with esophageal adenocarcinoma and in 50% of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. The deactivated APC gene also was found in tissues from 40% of patients with Barrett esophagus, a precancerous condition associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease. The altered gene was not found in normal esophageal tissues.

"We hope our research eventually will lead to a dramatic increase in the survival rate for esophageal cancer," said Stephen Meltzer, MD, professor of medicine and senior investigator of the . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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