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Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence

Retinoblastoma (Rb) is considered to represent the prototype of cancer linked to the sequential loss or inactivation of both alleles of a so-called “tumor suppressor gene”, the Rb1 gene. The pathogenetic mechanism behind this tumor was first hypothesized by Knudson in 1971 and further confirmed by o...

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Autores principales: Mastrangelo, Domenico, Hadjistilianou, Theodora, De Francesco, Sonia, Loré, Cosimo
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859046/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20445799
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/301973
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author Mastrangelo, Domenico
Hadjistilianou, Theodora
De Francesco, Sonia
Loré, Cosimo
author_facet Mastrangelo, Domenico
Hadjistilianou, Theodora
De Francesco, Sonia
Loré, Cosimo
author_sort Mastrangelo, Domenico
collection PubMed
description Retinoblastoma (Rb) is considered to represent the prototype of cancer linked to the sequential loss or inactivation of both alleles of a so-called “tumor suppressor gene”, the Rb1 gene. The pathogenetic mechanism behind this tumor was first hypothesized by Knudson in 1971 and further confirmed by others who identified the Rb1 gene whose loss or inactivation was claimed to be responsible for the disease. However, after about four decades of continuous research in the field of molecular biology, the evidence behind the role of the Rb1 gene in Rb appears to be seriously flawed in the light of epidemiological, biological, and clinical evidences. This editorial summarizes the inconsistencies on this subject. Nevertheless, the molecular biology establishment still adheres to the biased view of the genetic origin of Rb and other cancers, and hardly any alternative explanations are taken into account.
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spelling pubmed-28590462010-05-05 Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence Mastrangelo, Domenico Hadjistilianou, Theodora De Francesco, Sonia Loré, Cosimo J Cancer Epidemiol Review Article Retinoblastoma (Rb) is considered to represent the prototype of cancer linked to the sequential loss or inactivation of both alleles of a so-called “tumor suppressor gene”, the Rb1 gene. The pathogenetic mechanism behind this tumor was first hypothesized by Knudson in 1971 and further confirmed by others who identified the Rb1 gene whose loss or inactivation was claimed to be responsible for the disease. However, after about four decades of continuous research in the field of molecular biology, the evidence behind the role of the Rb1 gene in Rb appears to be seriously flawed in the light of epidemiological, biological, and clinical evidences. This editorial summarizes the inconsistencies on this subject. Nevertheless, the molecular biology establishment still adheres to the biased view of the genetic origin of Rb and other cancers, and hardly any alternative explanations are taken into account. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2009 2009-10-27 /pmc/articles/PMC2859046/ /pubmed/20445799 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/301973 Text en Copyright © 2009 Domenico Mastrangelo et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Review Article
Mastrangelo, Domenico
Hadjistilianou, Theodora
De Francesco, Sonia
Loré, Cosimo
Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title_full Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title_fullStr Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title_full_unstemmed Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title_short Retinoblastoma and the Genetic Theory of Cancer: An Old Paradigm Trying to Survive to the Evidence
title_sort retinoblastoma and the genetic theory of cancer: an old paradigm trying to survive to the evidence
topic Review Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859046/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20445799
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2009/301973
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