Table of contents
From the editors
p251 | doi:10.1038/nrc1876
Research Highlights
Drug resistance: Targeting resistance
p253 | doi:10.1038/nrc1867
In the news
The stampede goes on
p254 | doi:10.1038/nrc1870
Tumorigenesis: A step towards viral transformation
p254 | doi:10.1038/nrc1871
Leukaemia: Top-NOTCH
p254 | doi:10.1038/nrc1872
Trial Watch
A short course might be enough
p255 | doi:10.1038/nrc1875
Angiogenesis: Showing the way home
p256 | doi:10.1038/nrc1868
Breast cancer: The X factor
p256 | doi:10.1038/nrc1873
Prostate cancer: Switching roles
p256 | doi:10.1038/nrc1874
In brief
Melanoma | Hypoxia | Oncogenes | Immunology
p257 | doi:10.1038/nrc1869
Reviews
Oncomirs — microRNAs with a role in cancer
Aurora Esquela-Kerscher & Frank J. Slack
p259 | doi:10.1038/nrc1840
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small, non-protein-coding RNAs that can repress the expression of important cancer-related genes. The mutation or mis-expression of several miRNAs is evident in human cancers, so will these novel RNAs prove useful in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer?
Modelling cancer in human skin tissue
Paul A. Khavari
p270 | doi:10.1038/nrc1838
Many in vivo models of human cancer are available, each with specific advantages and drawbacks. Paul Khavari describes progress in using the skin as a model tissue for experimentally induced human-tissue neoplasia in a three-dimensionally faithful context in mice.
Article series: Tumour Microenvironment
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer and metastasis
Pepper Schedin
p281 | doi:10.1038/nrc1839
Breast cancer that is diagnosed relatively soon after a pregnancy is associated with a poor prognosis. Could changes in the mammary microenvironment, such as the remodelling of the mammary gland to its pre-pregnant state, increase tumour-cell dissemination?
Pathogenetic mechanisms in thyroid follicular-cell neoplasia
Tetsuo Kondo, Shereen Ezzat & Sylvia L. Asa
p292 | doi:10.1038/nrc1836
This paper examines recent advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of thyroid cancer. This will help the diagnosis and therapy of what is one of the few malignancies whose incidence is increasing.
Protein-tyrosine phosphatases and cancer
Arne Östman, Carina Hellberg & Frank D. Böhmer
p307 | doi:10.1038/nrc1837
Tyrosine phopshorylation is controlled by protein-tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs), and recent evidence has shown that some PTPs can function as tumour suppressors whereas others can be oncogenic. Understanding how these enzymes function might aid the development of new anticancer agents.
Perspectives
Opinion
Targeting polo-like kinase 1 for cancer therapy
Klaus Strebhardt & Axel Ullrich
p321 | doi:10.1038/nrc1841
Polo-like kinase 1 is a cell-cycle regulator whose overexpression has prognostic value in cancer. Its unique structural features make it a promising target for drug development.
Science and society
How participants in cancer trials are chosen: ethics and conflicting interests
Gordon Jayson & John Harris
p330 | doi:10.1038/nrc1842
How do cancer patients decide whether to take part in clinical trials? Gordon Jayson and John Harris discuss the rules and realities concerning confidentiality, informed consent and protection of patients.
