School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The new millennium has been regarded as a genomic era. A lot of
researchers and pathologists are beginning to understand the scientific
basis of molecular genetics and relates with the progression of the
diseases. Central nervous system (CNS) tumours are among the most
rapidly fatal of all cancers. It has been proposed that the progression
of malignant tumours may result from multi-step of genetic alterations,
including activation of oncogenes, inactivation of tumour suppressor
genes and also the presence of certain molecular marker such as
telomerase activity. In this paper, we review some recent data from the
literature, including our own studies, on the molecular genetics
analysis in CNS tumours. Our studies have shown that two types of
tumour suppressor genes, p53 and PTEN were involved in the development
of these tumours but not in p16 gene among the patients from Hospital
Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Telomerase activity also has been
detected in various types of CNS tumours. Thus, it is important to
assemble all data which related to this study and may provide as a
vital information in a new approach to neuro-oncology studies in
Malaysia
