Oncogenes: targets for immunodiagnosis and chemotherapy?
A hypothesis is presented that cellular proto-oncogenes encode proteins that play a regulatory role in embryonic development and in the terminal differentiations of cells in various tissues and that alterations in these genes yield oncogenes whose expression results in neoplasia. The hypothesis suggests that study of the disturbance in cell regulation introduced by oncogenes could permit the rational design of inhibitors capable of restoring neoplastic cells to normal differentiation lineages. Proteins encoded by oncogenes may be immunogenic and thus provide diagnostic markers in the tumor-bearing host.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D009857:Oncogenes