Expression data from ACC xenografts and normal salivary glands

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon malignant neoplasm (incidence of 0.35 per 100,000) that occurs in different body sites. It most often arises in salivary glands and other secretory glands in the head and neck region. To find the gene expression signatures of ACC, we performed microarray experiments to compare ACC xenograft tumor models and normal tissue samples. We used microarrays to detail the global program of gene expression underlying adenoid cystic carcinoma and identified distinct classes of up- and down-regulated genes compared to non-neoplastic salivary tissue. Viable tumor tissue samples from human patients were used to establish xenograft tumor models in nude/nude immunodeficient mice. Tissue from these tumor models were compared to tissue samples of normal human salivary glands. Tissue samples were frozen, examined by cryostat histologic sectioning and macrodissected to obtain samples that represented at least 70% epithelial cells.