mutant gene theory

mutant gene theory

A paradigm for explaining carcinogenesis, which holds, in essence, that cancer results from an accumulation of mutations that:
(1) knock out or delete tumour suppressor genes (e.g., RB, p53, APC); and/or
(2) increase the activity of oncogenes (e.g., BRAF, c-erbb3, c-fos), whose protein products prompt cells to cancer progression.