Current Issue

Perspective

Article series: MYC

Reflecting on 25 years with MYC

Natalie Meyer & Linda Z. Penn

MYC is an iconic oncogene that has been at the forefront of cancer research since its discovery. Looking back over the history of MYC research provides us with a framework with which to progress in the next 25 years, as outlined in this Timeline.

Current Issue

Review

FLT1 and its ligands VEGFB and PlGF: drug targets for anti–angiogenic therapy?

Christian Fischer, Massimiliano Mazzone, Bart Jonckx & Peter Carmeliet

Anti–angiogenic drugs have become part of the standard therapeutics used to treat cancer. Despite this milestone, anti–angiogenic therapy still faces a number of clinical hurdles. Will other agents with complementary mechanisms offer novel opportunities for improved treatment?

Current Issue

Perspective

γH2AX and cancer

William M. Bonner, Christophe E. Redon, Jennifer S. Dickey, Asako J. Nakamura, Olga A. Sedelnikova, Stéphanie Solier & Yves Pommier

DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) may lead to cancer but, paradoxically, are also used to kill cancer cells. How might γH2AX — a surrogate marker of DSBs — be used to detect precancerous cells, to stage cancers, to monitor the effectiveness of cancer therapies and to develop novel anticancer drugs?

Current Issue

Review

The ADAMs: signalling scissors in the tumour microenvironment

Gillian Murphy

The disintegrin metalloproteinases of the Adam (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) family mediate proteolytic 'shedding' of membrane–associated proteins and hence rapidly modulate key cell signalling pathways in the tumour microenvironment. What is the biological and clinical relevance of the ADAMs?

Current Issue

Perspective

Article series: Hypoxia and metabolism

The impact of O₂ availability on human cancer

Jessica A. Bertout, Shetal A. Patel & M. Celeste Simon

During the past century, the response to hypoxia has emerged as an important phenotypic determinant of a tumour, with repercussions for sensitivity to radiation and chemotherapy. This Timeline provides a historical overview of responses to hypoxia while looking forward to therapeutic strategies that are being developed to exploit them.

Current Issue

Progress

Non–coding RNA production by RNA polymerase III is implicated in cancer

Lynne Marshall & Robert J. White

Increased RNA polymerase III activity in cancer has been observed for over 30 years but how this occurs and affects cellular transformation is only beginning to be understood. Lynne Marshall and Robert J. White discuss recent progress made in this emerging field.