CAN APOPTOSIS IN BENIGN PROLIFERATIVE LESIONS PREDICT RISK OF CANCER DEVELOPMENT

The presence of benign proliferative lesions is a risk factor for the development of cancer. However, only a subset of individuals presentin g with benign lesions goes on to develop cancer. It is a major challen ge of cancer research to identify those individuals at increased risk for this neoplastic progression. It has been suggested that individual s with inherent genomic instability may have a predisposition for canc er development. The hypothesis is presented that this genetic instabil ity could be quantified through the analysis of apoptosis in biopsies of benign lesions. It is further conjectured that genetic damage-depen dent apoptosis might serve as a prognostic indicator to identify indiv iduals at increased risk for cancer.