The role of oncogenes and antioncogenes in lung tumorigenesis is discussed in this review, with particular emphasis on their prognostic significance. Mutations in the ras family of oncogenes, overexpression of the myc and neu families of oncogenes, and mutations of p53, the recessive tumor suppressor gene, occur with differing frequencies in small cell lung cancer and non-small cell lung cancer...

Carcinogenesis is a multistep process attributable to both gain-of-function mutations in oncogenes and loss-of-function mutations in tumor suppressor genes. Currently, most molecular targeted therapies are inhibitors of oncogenes, because inactivated tumor suppressor genes have proven harder to "drug." Nevertheless, in cancers, tumor suppressor genes undergo alteration more frequently than do o...

The search for effective methods for detecting cancers at very early stages is currently a top priority of cancer research. While numerous oncogenes have been identified in and associated with human cancers, the last 50 years of molecular and genetic studies have not led to a breakthrough in either the diagnosis or the treatment of cancers. Therefore, the role of oncogenes in carcinogenesis is ...