Two Teams Report Gene Linked to Basal Cell Carcinoma

BETHESDA, Md--Research supported by the National Institutes ofHealth and the National Cancer Institute has led to discoveryof a tumor-suppressor gene involved in basal cell carcinoma.

The findings were reported by an international team from the UnitedStates, Sweden, and Australia in Cell, and by a California-basedteam in Science.

The gene, known as patched (PTC), is implicated in thenevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, a rare disorder that causesnumerous birth defects and an inherited form of basal cell carcinoma.It also appears to play a role in sporadic basal cell carcinoma,since mutations of the gene were also found in a few patientswith noninherited basal cell tumors.