TRANSGENIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS OF CHEMICAL CARCINOGENESIS IN MOUSE SKIN

The use of animal models for human cancer has proved effective in the elucidation of those molecular events which are responsible for the va rious stages of tumour development. Chemical carcinogenesis in mouse s kin has been studied as a model for human squamous cancer for several decades, and analysis of this model has led to the identification of a number of the changes which are involved in the evolution of malignan cy. The use of transgenic and knockout mice offers a further avenue of advancement, allowing refinement of the model, and the ability to exa mine the consequences of individual events in vivo in greater detail. Additionally, crossing different transgenic or knockout animals repres ents a powerful tool to study the cumulative effects of several geneti c alterations acting in concert.