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Integrins contribute to squamous cell carcinoma as well as invasion and metastasis. Mutation or upregulation of integrins in tumour cells can inhibit differentiation and apoptosis, and integrins that are expressed by differentiated cells can alter the proliferation of neighbouring tumour stem cells.
Mutation or deletion of PTEN is found in many cancers — however, in others, deregulation of the PI3K–PTEN network occurs in the absence of PTEN mutation. This review examines whether 'crosstalk' with other tumorigenic signalling pathways contributes to PI3K–PTEN deregulation.
Despite the success in treating childhood leukaemia, its causes remain enigmatic. A plethora of candidate environmental exposures have been proposed but, as this review discusses, an abnormal immune response to common infection(s) has emerged as the most plausible aetiological mechanism.
Why should vaccines be particularly effective in cancer prevention? Guido Forni and colleagues discuss the rationale for, and the challenges involved in, developing such preventive vaccines.
This review examines whether the ASPP family of p53-interacting proteins are a missing link in the regulation of p53-induced cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis.
Clinical trial results with matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors have been poor. So, which MMPs are validated drug targets with a crucial role in disease pathogenesis and which MMPs are actually proteins that have unacceptable deleterious effects when inhibited (anti-targets)?
Stress does not cause cancer per se, but depression and a lack of social support might influence cancer progression and clinical outcome. Can identification of the molecular and biological mechanisms involved be used to improve patient treatment?