Targeted Cancer Therapy: Vital Oncogenes and a New Molecular Genetic Paradigm for Cancer Initiation Progression and Treatment

• Main Author: Rudolph E. Willis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2016-09-01
• Series: International Journal of Molecular Sciences
• Subjects: oncogenes; oncogene addiction; carcinogenesis; transcription factor; cancer genome; gene fusion; cancer genetics; cancer stem cell; targeted cancer therapy; personalized medicine
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/17/9/1552

It has been declared repeatedly that cancer is a result of molecular genetic abnormalities. However, there has been no working model describing the specific functional consequences of the deranged genomic processes that result in the initiation and propagation of the cancer process during carcinogenesis. We no longer need to question whether or not cancer arises as a result of a molecular genetic defect within the cancer cell. The legitimate questions are: how and why? This article reviews the preeminent data on cancer molecular genetics and subsequently proposes that the sentinel event in cancer initiation is the aberrant production of fused transcription activators with new molecular properties within normal tissue stem cells. This results in the production of vital oncogenes with dysfunctional gene activation transcription properties, which leads to dysfunctional gene regulation, the aberrant activation of transduction pathways, chromosomal breakage, activation of driver oncogenes, reactivation of stem cell transduction pathways and the activation of genes that result in the hallmarks of cancer. Furthermore, a novel holistic molecular genetic model of cancer initiation and progression is presented along with a new paradigm for the approach to personalized targeted cancer therapy, clinical monitoring and cancer diagnosis.