As one of the first sarcomas to be defined by the presence of a specific chromosomal translocation leading to the production of the SS18-SSX fusion oncogene, it is perhaps the archetypal "translocation-associated sarcoma," and its translocation remains unique to this tumor type.
Furthermore, tumors were screened for gene fusions (PAX3-FKHR, ASPL-TFE3, and SYT-SSX) previously shown to be associated with MET activation in sarcomas.
SYT-SSX protein, resulted from chromosomal translocation, causes synovial sarcoma, which is a malignant tumor accounting for 10% of soft tissue sarcoma.
In three types of SSs, monophasic fibrous, biphasic and poorly differentiated, NBT/BCIP signals corresponding to SYT-SSX mRNA were uniformly and predominantly positive in the sarcoma cell cytoplasm.
We attempted to determine the influence of the two alternative forms of the SYT-SSX fusion gene on tumor morphology and clinical outcome in patients with this sarcoma.