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Abstract

Cancer is a disease of uncontrolled cell growth. Cancer cells grow abnormally because of damage to their DNA. This DNA damage garbles the genetic signals for normal growth. The molecular approach to cancer gets to the heart of the matter. Molecular studies have uncovered many of the details whereby a normal cell becomes cancerous. These discoveries have revealed cancer to be a multistep process, involving the progressive loss of control by the malignant cell, failure of DNA repair, and of loss of backup systems for preventing abnormal cell growth. We have discovered oncogenes, which promote tumor growth, as well as anti-oncogenes, which suppress tumors.

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© 1996 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Ross, D.W. (1996). Cancer. In: Introduction to Molecular Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2460-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2460-8_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-94468-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-2460-8

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