Growth and differentiation signals as determinants of cancer cell proliferation.
The development and the maintenance of a tissue involves the sequential differentiation of precursor cells along multiple intermediate stages of maturity. At these stages the cells can proliferate or differentiate depending upon the growth or differentiation signals they receive. Terminally mature cells lose their ability to proliferate. Alterations can occur at the level of the cell or the whole organism that lead to the sustained proliferation of incompletely mature cells. This process constitutes an oncogenic event, and the cellular and molecular changes that lead to its occurrence are surveyed in this review.
Bloch
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Grace Cancer Drug Center, Roswell Park Memorial Institute, Buffalo, New York 14263.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000473:pathology*; D009857:Oncogenes; D015398:Signal Transduction