Discovery of an Innate Cancer Resistance Gene?

Abstract

Advances in cancer research have exploited the knowledge that mutations in proto-oncogenes and/or mutations in both alleles of tumor suppressor genes can bring about the cancer phenotype. Research originating from the opposite side of the coin—cancer-resistance genetics—has been less spectacular. Nonetheless, Cui et al. have observed one BALB/c mouse that did not bear tumors after receiving repeated injections of highly aggressive tumor cells. After breeding a colony of cancer-resistant mice from the resistant founder, the authors found that the trait was inherited in simple Mendelian dominant fashion, most likely under the control of a single locus. Intriguingly, this resistance trait disappears with age.