title: Cancer genetics: a primer for surgeons.
abstract: Contemporary ideas of carcinogenesis envisage a series of stochastic genetic changes that confer a selective growth advantage over healthy cells. These changes collectively lead to the disruption of coordinated networks of intercellular communication and cause a fundamental change in cellular behavior, which affects processes, such as proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. This progressive dysregulation of cellular function implies that cancer is not a morphologic entity, but a process in which the malignant phenotype is gradually acquired.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Breast Unit, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK. john.benson@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
authors.forename: John R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Benson
authors.forename: Siong-Seng
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Liau
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D052138:Genes, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor