Researchers believe EMT is the Dominant Program in Human Colon Cancer

The work, which appears in BioMed Centrals Medical Genomics Journal, details how unsupervised microarray data analysis was carried out on 326 human colon cancer samples, to discover the first principal component (PC1) of the most variable set of genes. It was discovered that the most dominant pattern of intrinsic gene expression in colon cancer (PC1) was tightly correlated with the EMT signature-- both in gene identity and directionality.
This data demonstrates that the biology underpinning the native, molecular classification of human colon cancer was clarified through the lens of comprehensive transcriptome analysis.

Abstract:

Background: Colon cancer has been classically described by clinicopathologic features that permit the prediction of outcome only after surgical resection and staging. Methods: We performed an unsupervised analysis of microarray data from 326 colon cancers to identify the first principal component (PC1) of the most variable set of genes. PC1 deciphered two primary, intrinsic molecular subtypes of colon cancer that predicted disease progression and recurrence. Results: Here we report that the most dominant pattern of intrinsic gene expression in colon cancer (PC1) was tightly correlated (Pearson R = 0.92, P < 10-135) with the EMT signature-- both in gene identity and directionality. In a global micro-RNA screen, we further identified the most anti-correlated microRNA with PC1 as MiR200, known to regulate EMT. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that the biology underpinning the native, molecular classification of human colon cancer--previously thought to be highly heterogeneous--was clarified through the lens of comprehensive transcriptome analysis.

To read the full paper, entitled 'EMT is the Dominant Program in Human Colon Cancer' please visit: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1755-8794/4/9/abstract