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  • Between Bedside and Bench
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miRNAs in the spotlight: Understanding cancer gene dependency

Nature Medicine volume 17, pages 935–936 (2011)Cite this article

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Most human cancers are driven by somatic genetic alterations, which often involve oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes1. For example, chromosome translocations involving the MYC oncogene on chromosome 8 and one of three immunoglobulin loci dysregulate the MYC oncogene, leading to the development of Burkitt's lymphoma1. The BCR-ABL fusion gene resulting from the Philadelphia chromosome causes elevation of the activity of the Abl tyrosine kinase and is responsible for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)1. Because such driver gene alterations are essential for tumor cell growth, survival or both, their reversion can lead to selective death of cancer cells1.

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Figure 1: miRNAs targeting oncogenes and tumor suppressors as cancer drivers.

Katie Vicari

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Carlo M. Croce is in the Department of Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, The Ohio State University School of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio, USA.,

    Carlo M Croce

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  1. Carlo M Croce
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Correspondence to Carlo M Croce.

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Croce, C. miRNAs in the spotlight: Understanding cancer gene dependency. Nat Med 17, 935–936 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0811-935

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