Two fundamental molecular pathways, the pRB and p53 pathways, regulate cell
growth and cell death. The importance of these pathways in cellular growth
control is underscored by the observation that members of these pathways a
re found mutated in all human cancer. These two pathways have typically bee
n studied and described independently. However, as we discuss here, recent
data have revealed an intimate molecular and genetic interaction between th
e p53 and pRB pathways.