Cancer Genes: Sins of Commission and Omission

In cancer as in life, there are sins of commission, and sins of omission. The cancer sins of commission are committed by oncogenes. This excerpt from an online biochemistry text provides an excellent followup to the wikipedia page. Oncogenes produce protein products that stimulate cell division and that can lead to out of control cell growth and reproduction. This Eurekalert newsrelease discusses recent research targeting oncogenes. ...."Retinoic acid can reverse the defect in growth control that was caused by the viral agent and result in cell-growth arrest," Yen says, describing his experiments with cell cultures. "Now we need a deeper understanding of how retinoic acid causes these changes -- and exactly which molecules are affected by retinoic acid. In my dreams there is a single effector, but it's more likely there are several."

The cancer sins of omission are brought about when tumour suppressor genes are prevented from working normally. This online text excerpt will supply further understanding of the tumour suppressor gene concept, after you read the wikipedia introduction. Tumour suppressor genes produce protein products that either cause apoptosis of the cell, or suppress cell growth and division. Preventing the tumour suppressor gene from functioning allows the cell to undergo cancerous transformation with relative impunity. This Eurekalert newsrelease reports on the recent discovery of a natural tumour suppressor. .....Located on chromosome 18 and called PH domain Leucine-rich repeat Protein Phosphatase (PHLPP, pronounced "flip"), the tumor suppressor is described in the April 1, 2005 issue of the journal Molecular Cell. The scientists demonstrated that PHLPP deletes a phosphate molecule, causing termination of cell-growth signaling by a protein called Akt that controls the balance between cell growth leading to cancer and cell death that prevents tumor formation.

Pharmaceutical companies are targeting the genes of cancer in the hope of finding a drug that is highly lethal to cancer cells, but harmless to normal cells. This link will take you to several links to cancer gene resources, and information on the cancer genes of specific types of cancer.