A History of Cancer Research: Proto-Oncogene Activation in Human Cancer
Abstract
Research in the 1970s showed that while retroviruses had been a key to identification of oncogenes, they were not actually a major cause of human cancer. Moreover, cells contained additional proto-oncogenes that did not necessarily have viral oncogene counterparts. In this excerpt from his forthcoming book, Joe Lipsick remembers the groundbreaking work on DNA transfection, chromosomal rearrangements, and gene amplification that identified the smoking guns responsible for activation of oncogenes such as RAS and revealed how translocations in immune cells produce cancer drivers like the Philadelphia chromosome.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Cancer Research and Treatments
Cancer and biochemical research
Cancer Cells and Metastasis
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- a035790–a035790
- Publication date
- 1 April 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Preprint