Tumour suppressor gene
A gene whose normal job is to stop cells dividing or to make damaged cells die. Losing it removes a brake, so the cell can grow unchecked even without a stuck accelerator.
Because a cell has two copies of each gene, a tumour suppressor is usually only disabled when both copies are lost, by mutation, deletion, or silencing; people who inherit one faulty copy (BRCA1, TP53 in Li-Fraumeni, APC) are one step closer and develop cancer young. TP53, mutated in about half of all cancers, halts division and triggers apoptosis after DNA damage; RB1 gates the cell cycle; PTEN restrains the PI3K pathway. Lost genes cannot be directly targeted by a drug, so treatment exploits the consequences: PARP inhibitors kill BRCA-deficient cells, and MDM2 inhibitors reactivate p53 in tumours where it is present but suppressed.
Pages like this
not linked directly; found by shared links- TermMutation
Shares Deletion, Gene, Driver mutation.
- TermChromosome
- PersonChristopher Lord
Shares Synthetic lethality, PARP, BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD).
- InstitutionHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre
Shares Hereditary cancer syndromes, BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD), TP53.
- IdeaA synthetic lethality map for every cancer driver in every tissue context
Shares Synthetic lethality, PARP, TP53.
- InstitutionNewcastle Cancer Centre / Northern Centre for Cancer Care
Shares Synthetic lethality, PARP, BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD).
- PathwayDrivers, passengers & the two-hit model
Shares Hereditary cancer syndromes, Synthetic lethality, p53 / RB / cell-cycle checkpoint, BRCA1 / BRCA2 (HRD).
- CompanyBulsara Bioworks
Shares p53 / RB / cell-cycle checkpoint, TP53.