PMC:1852721 / 65244-65988 JSONTXT

{"project":"2_test","denotations":[{"id":"17357067-12042769-2054087","span":{"begin":131,"end":133},"obj":"12042769"}],"text":"The epigenetic silencing of tumor-suppressor genes may be a more frequent basis for cancer than are point mutations in those genes.43 Aberrant promoter methylation is associated with loss-of-gene function that can provide a selective advantage to neoplastic cells, just as do loss-of- function point mutations. Germline mutations in the VHL (MIM *608537), BRCA1 (MIM +113705), and STK11 (MIM *602216) genes cause familial forms of renal, breast, and colon cancers, respectively; the same genes are often epigenetically silenced in sporadic forms of these tumors. For example, the BRCA1 gene is not important only for familial breast cancer; 10%–15% of women with nonfamilial breast cancer have tumors in which the BRCA1 gene is hypermethylated."}