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Deregulation of the Hox Gene Network and Cancer

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Abstract

Although the Hox genes have been identified as master regulatory genes controlling embryonic development, an alternative view on the role of the Hox gene network suggests that it regulates crucial processes at cellular level in eukaryotic organisms. Our working hypothesis considers the Hox network, at the nuclear cell level, as a decoding system for external inductive signals to activate specific genetic programs. We thus identify a cancer as an anomalous structure growing inside the human body and following, from a cellular and architectural viewpoint, the rules controlling body shape during embryonic development. In this chapter we will describe, according to present data, how the Hox gene network acts in specific types of human solid tumours (breast, prostate, bladder, kidney). Furthermore we identify three research areas potentially able to produce, in the near future, important achievements to increase our understanding of (i) the function of the Hox gene network; (ii) the identification of the HOX target genes; (iii) the molecular basis of human cancers.

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  1. Clemente Cillo

    Present address: Institute of Pathology, Molecular Pathology Division, University of Basel, Schonbeinstrasse 40, 4003, Basel, Switzerland

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  1. Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University Medical School, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Clemente Cillo

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Cillo, C. (2007). Deregulation of the Hox Gene Network and Cancer. In: HOX Gene Expression. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-68990-6_9

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