A continuum model for tumour suppression.
basic_science · Level V
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- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 21833082.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/nature10275 and PMC identifier PMC2827955.
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Abstract
This year, 2011, marks the forty-year anniversary of the statistical analysis of retinoblastoma that provided the first evidence that tumorigenesis can be initiated by as few as two mutations. This work provided the foundation for the two-hit hypothesis that explained the role of recessive tumour suppressor genes (TSGs) in dominantly inherited cancer susceptibility syndromes. However, four decades later, it is now known that even partial inactivation of tumour suppressors can critically contribute to tumorigenesis. Here we analyse this evidence and propose a continuum model of TSG function to explain the full range of TSG mutations found in cancer.