Prognosis for G1 cell-cycle regulators: Useful for predicting course of disease and for assessment of therapy in cancer

Cancer cells arise from an increasing genetic disarray affecting control ov er proliferation, self-defence, and senescence. Multiple mechanisms with a multitude of players are invoked in the genetic distortion which leads to t umour progression in different tissues. Tumour pathology is in need of a cl ear, distinctive classification of tumour samples for assessment of risk an d treatment. What for, and how should these two fields be combined? Markers which indicate the overall genetic disorder in cancer cells may be suffici ent, in addition to a morphological description, to assess risk of cancer p atients, in particular in cases with lymph node-negative disease. However, a refinement of risk is at hand when a better evaluation of genetic alterat ions is achieved. The status of genetic malfunctioning may also provide tar get(s) for therapy as well. In this editorial, the genetic alterations impl icated in disturbed regulation of the G1 phase of the cell cycle by the Rb/ cyclin D1/p16/cdk4 pathway are considered to provide relevant information t o assess risk as well as to target therapy. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.