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. 2001 Jul 31;98(17):9719–9723. doi: 10.1073/pnas.171321498

Figure 3.

Figure 3

Pathway showing possible sequence of events in tumorigenesis. Following mutations in the APC gene, a subset of tumors have inactivation of mismatch repair genes and so diverge along a pathway that includes mutations of the TGFβRII gene, and is characterized by microsatellite instability (MSI+). A subset of the remaining tumors acquire mutations in the SMAD4 gene, accompanied by loss of the wild-type chromosome 18, and this either precedes or causes another subset of tumors to diverge along a chromosomal instability (CIN+) pathway with aneuploidy/polyploidy. The remaining tumors are MSI−/CIN−.