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The recent finding that the induction of cellular senescence is associated with the premalignant stages of tumour progression indicates that markers of senescence might prove to be useful diagnostic and prognostic tools. This article presents some of the more promising candidates.
Do alterations in the neural stem-cell population contribute to brain tumorigenesis? This review address how this knowledge might be used to identify new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of brain tumours, such as glioblastoma multiforme and medulloblastoma.
In this review the authors argue that the inhibition of cell death is an important characteristic of metastatic cancer cells. Will this view identify new treatments for metastatic disease?
Gene-expression profiling and other studies have recently provided new insights into the biology of hairy-cell leukaemia (HCL). Such insights will facilitate differentiation of HCL from HCL-like disorders and lead to new targets for therapeutic intervention.
p21-activated kinases (Paks) have recently been implicated in apoptosis and proliferation, as well as their established roles in cytoskeletal remodelling and motility. How do these roles contribute to tumorigenesis and are Paks a potential therapeutic target?
The Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST) guidelines are crucial to the assessment of new anticancer agents, but are they adequate for evaluating the activity of the newest generation of cancer drugs?
Several ubiquitin ligases are altered in cancer. These proteins are crucial for the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of cell-cycle proteins, ensuring regulated progression through the cycle. Understanding the mechanistic roles of these ligases is therefore of great importance.
Both oestrogen and selective oestrogen receptor modulators can promote endometrial carcinogenesis. However, gene-expression studies have shown that they function through distinct, albeit overlapping, mechanisms. This article reviews our current understanding of both pathways.
BRCA1 interacts with many proteins, but one particular protein, BARD1, seems to be an important regulator of BRCA1 function. This review examines whether BARD1 has BRCA1-independent functions that contribute to the pathogenesis of cancer.
NOTCH1is activated in >50% of human T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL) samples and is far more important in this disease than previously suspected. How is Notch 1 activated and how does this further our understanding of the aetiology of T-ALL?
Recent data indicate that growth-factor receptors and associated adaptors can accumulate in the nucleus. Are there novel functions for these proteins that might change our understanding of their role in cancer, and do these findings have implications for drug resistance?
This paper examines recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer. This will help the diagnosis and therapy of what is one of the few malignancies whose incidence is increasing.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-protein-coding RNAs that can repress the expression of important cancer-related genes. The mutation or mis-expression of several miRNAs is evident in human cancers, so will these novel RNAs prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer?
Tyrosine phopshorylation is controlled by protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), and recent evidence has shown that some PTPs can function as tumour suppressors whereas others can be oncogenic. Understanding how these enzymes function might aid the development of new anticancer agents.
Polo-like kinase 1 is a cell-cycle regulator whose overexpression has prognostic value in cancer. Its unique structural features make it a promising target for drug development.
Breast cancer that is diagnosed relatively soon after a pregnancy is associated with a poor prognosis. Could changes in the mammary microenvironment, such as the remodelling of the mammary gland to its pre-pregnant state, increase tumour-cell dissemination?
Fibroblasts are an important component of the tumour microenvironment. They become activated in tumours, as they do in healing wounds. Here, their roles in tumour initiation, progression and metastasis are reviewed.
Manyin vivomodels of human cancer are available, each with specific advantages and drawbacks. Paul Khavari describes progress in using the skin as a model tissue for experimentally induced human-tissue neoplasia in a three-dimensionally faithful context in mice.
Why should vaccines be particularly effective in cancer prevention? Guido Forni and colleagues discuss the rationale for, and the challenges involved in, developing such preventive vaccines.
Clinical trial results with matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors have been poor. So, which MMPs are validated drug targets with a crucial role in disease pathogenesis and which MMPs are actually proteins that have unacceptable deleterious effects when inhibited (anti-targets)?
