title: Oncogenic rearrangements driving ionizing radiation-associated human cancer.
abstract: The Chernobyl nuclear disaster has caused a remarkable increase in radiation-induced papillary thyroid carcinoma in children and young adults. In this issue of the JCI, Ricarte-Filho and colleagues demonstrate that chromosomal rearrangements are the oncogenic "drivers" in most post-Chernobyl carcinomas and that they often lead to unscheduled activation of the MAPK signaling pathway. These findings represent a major step forward in our understanding of radiation-induced carcinogenesis and suggest various hypotheses about the mechanisms underlying the formation and selection of gene rearrangements during cancer cell evolution.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santoro
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carlomagno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009154:Mutation; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000235:genetics*; D050596:Oncogene Fusion; D000077273:Thyroid Cancer, Papillary; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*