Collection articles
The Collection contains recently published review-type articles from the Nature Publishing Group.
Insight Review Article
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Intrinsic tumour suppression
Journal:Nature 432, 307−315 (18 November 2004); doi:10.1038/nature03098
Mutations that drive uncontrolled cell-cycle progression are requisite events in tumorigenesis. But evolution has installed in the proliferative programmes of mammalian cells a variety of innate tumour-suppressive mechanisms that trigger apoptosis or senescence, should proliferation become aberrant. These contingent processes rely on a series of sensors and transducers that act in a coordinated network to target the machinery responsible for apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest at different points. Although oncogenic mutations that disable such networks can have profound and varied effects on tumour evolution, they may leave intact latent tumour-suppressive potential that can be harnessed therapeutically.
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Historical Perspective
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Cancer genes and the pathways they control
Journal:Nature Medicine 10, 789−799 (2004); doi:10.1038/nm1087
The revolution in cancer research can be summed up in a single sentence: cancer is, in essence, a genetic disease. In the last decade, many important genes responsible for the genesis of various cancers have been discovered, their mutations precisely identified, and the pathways through which they act characterized. The purposes of this review are to highlight examples of progress in these areas, indicate where knowledge is scarce and point out fertile grounds for future investigation.
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Perspective - Timeline
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Chemotherapy and the war on cancer
Journal:Nature Reviews Cancer 5, 65−72 (2005); doi:10.1038/nrc1529
The era of chemotherapy began in the 1940s with the first uses of nitrogen mustards and antifolate drugs. Cancer drug development since then has transformed from a low-budget, government-supported research effort to a high-stakes, multi-billion dollar industry. The targeted-therapy revolution has arrived, but the principles and limitations of chemotherapy discovered by the early researchers still apply. This article chronicles the history of modern chemotherapy and identifies remaining challenges for the next generation of researchers.
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