Background

T-box transcription factor T, also known as Brachyury protein, is encoded for in humans by the TBXT gene.[5][6] Brachyury functions as a transcription factor within the T-box family of genes.[7] Brachyury homologs have been found in all bilaterian animals that have been screened, as well as the freshwater cnidarian Hydra. The gene brachyury appears to have a conserved role in defining the midline of a bilaterian organism,[10] and thus the establishment of the anterior-posterior axis; this function is apparent in chordates and molluscs. Brachyury is implicated in the initiation and/or progression of a number of tumor types including chordoma, germ cell tumors, hemangioblastoma, GIST, lung cancer, small cell carcinoma of the lung, breast cancer, colon cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, prostate cancer, and oral squamous carcinoma.