MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY - BASIS FOR NEW DI AGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC APPROACHES IN SURGICAL ONCOLOGY

In the past two decades increasing research efforts have focused on th e molecular biology of the cell. In the beginning, these research acti vities were purely academic without any direct clinical relation. A se ries of important discoveries, initiated particularly by the unravelli ng of the genetic code and the discovery of the molecular basis of gen e expression and genetics, the subsequent identification of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes and finally the description of major mechan isms which induce genetic instability in cells, now indicate the way t o many new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. In surgical oncology , these attempts are yielding the first clinical consequences. Basic a spects of molecular cell biology as far as they are relevant for surgi cal oncologists are discussed.