State of the Art: Recessive Mutation Predisposing to Cancer

¹ The University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati.

Familial cancer syndromes support the existence of mechanisms of carcinogenesis other than the action of dominant oncogenes. The suppression of the tumorigenic phenotype in tumor X normal cell somatic cell hybrids suggests that in some situations the tumorigenic phenotype is recessive. There is direct evidence that homozygosity of specific chromosomal regions is important in the genesis of some tumors. Most notably these tumors are associated with specific acquired and congenital chromosomal deletions. Thus, there are tumor-suppressing genes at specific chromosomal locations. The identification of these specific sequences is an exciting challenge that will provide the opportunity to understand cellular growth and differentiation, and perhaps offer new and more effective therapeutic options to patients with cancer.