Oncogene addiction as a foundational rationale for targeted anti-cancer therapy: promises and perils.

ABSTRACT: A decade has elapsed since the concept of oncogene addiction was first proposed. It postulates that - despite the diverse array of genetic lesions typical of cancer - some tumours rely on one single dominant oncogene for growth and survival, so that inhibition of this specific oncogene is sufficient to halt the neoplastic phenotype. A large amount of evidence has proven the pervasive power of this notion, both in basic research and in therapeutic applications. However, in the face of such a considerable body of knowledge, the intimate molecular mechanisms mediating this phenomenon remain elusive. At the clinical level, successful translation of the oncogene addiction model into the rational and effective design of targeted therapeutics against individual oncoproteins still faces major obst

SUBMITTER: Torti D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3377106 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature