Oncogenes and Tumor-Suppressing Genes

Abstract

THE past decade has witnessed great changes in our understanding of the molecular origins of cancer. Much of this progress stems from the discovery of specific genes, the oncogenes, which are carried in the genomes of a variety of tumor cells and appear to be responsible for specifying many of the malignant traits of these cells. Laboratory work in several areas has now uncovered 30 distinct oncogenes, some of which are associated with specific tumor types.¹ Recently, researchers have discovered a very different class of genes that are involved in some forms of carcinogenesis. These "tumor-suppressing" genes appear to be . . .