Description
Cancer Genome and Tumor Microenvironment, 2010
Cancer Genetics Series
Language: EnglishSubject for Cancer Genome and Tumor Microenvironment:
Keywords
Chromosom; angiogenesis; cell; genes; lymphocytes; lymphoma; melanoma; metastasis; senescence; tumor; tumor progression
480 p. · 15.5x23.5 cm · Paperback
Publication date: 12-2009
480 p. · 15.5x23.5 cm · Hardback
Description
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Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes had been traditionally studied in the context of cell proliferation, differentiation, senescence, and survival, four relatively cell-autonomous processes. Consequently, in the late ?80s-early ?90s, neoplastic growth was described largely as an imbalance between net cell accumulation and loss, brought about through mutations in cancer genes. In the last ten years, a more holistic understanding of cancer has slowly emerged, stressing the importance of interactions between neoplastic and various stromal components: extracellular matrix, basement membranes, fibroblasts, endothelial cells of blood and lymphatic vessels, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, etc. The commonly held view is that changes in tumor microenvironment are ?soft-wired?, i.e., epigenetic in nature and often reversible. Yet, there exists a large body of evidence suggesting that well-known mutations in cancer genes profoundly affect tumor milieu. In fact, these non-cell-autonomous changes might be one of the primary reasons such mutations are preserved in late-stage tumors.