title: Defining the cancer master switch.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent research has focused on signaling cascades and their interactions yielding considerable insight into which genetic pathways are targeted and how they tend to be altered in tumors. Therapeutic interventions now can be designed based on the knowledge of pathways vital to tumor growth and survival. These critical targets for intervention, master switches for cancer, are termed so because the tumor attempts to "flip the switch" in a way that promotes its survival, whereas molecular therapy aims to "switch off" signals important for tumor-related processes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Defining useful targets for therapy depends on identifying pathways that are crucial for tumor growth, survival, and metastasis. Because not all signaling cascades are created equal, selecting master switches or targets for intervention needs to be done in a systematic fashion. This discussion proposes a set of criteria to define what it means to be a cancer master switch and provides examples to illustrate their application.
authors.affiliation: Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Hospital, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Courtney J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Balentine
authors.forename: David H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: Shi-He
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Changyi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nemunaitis
authors.forename: F Charles
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Brunicardi
mesh_terms: D011125:Adenomatous Polyposis Coli / Q000235:genetics; D025601:Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000235:genetics; D005544:Forecasting; D005812:Genes, Switch / Q000235:genetics*; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000639:trends*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics*; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: C555337:APC protein, human; D025601:Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; C084010:pancreatic and duodenal homeobox 1 protein; C512478:EGFR protein, human; D066246:ErbB Receptors