Cancer is a malignant growth that is caused by mutations of genes. The progressive acquistion of cooperative mutations results in growth advantages for the afflicted cell that is biologically recognized as neoplastic progression. The genes involved in neoplastic progression can be broadly classified as oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and modifier genes.

Oncogenes are genes that when activated by mutation lead cancer by a gain of function. Tumor suppressor genes, when mutated, result in a loss of function. Modifier genes are genes which cooperate with oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes and/or other genetic elements to modify the neoplastic process. The known oncogenes can be classified by their participation in the various molecular pathways. The major known tumor suppressors involve complex cell cycle pathways. Another class, surrogate genes, are viral genes that substitute for normal functional genes. Other genes may be associated with a neoplasm but have no known mechanistic function.

This site is a work in progress that is designed to represent, for the user, some of the known relationships between the molecular biology of breast cancer in genetically engineered mice.

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