P53 and Rb Aberrations in Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC): From Molecular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Modulation.

ABSTRACT: The genes coding for the tumor suppressors p53 and retinoblastoma (Rb) are inactivated in the vast majority of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) tumors. Data support the notion that these two deleterious genetic events represent the initial steps in the development of SCLC, making them essential for a lung epithelial cell to progress toward the acquisition of a malignant phenotype. With the loss of TP53 and RB1, their broad tumor suppressive functions are eliminated and a normal cell is able to proliferate indefinitely, escape entering into cellular senescence, and evade death, no matter the damage it has experienced. Within this setting, lung epithelial cells accumulate further oncogenic mutations and are well on their way to becoming SCLC cells. Understanding the molecular mech

SUBMITTER: Papavassiliou KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10931347 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature