Antibodies as oncogenes: a hypothesis.

We would like to put forward the hypothesis that cancer patients may produce autoantibodies that promote uncontrolled cell growth and thereby function as oncogenes. Dying cells release proteins that stimulate the production of autoantibodies, an event also known to occur during the earliest stages of tumor growth. If some of these autoantibodies are directed against cell surface hormone receptors, they could oligomerize the receptors and inadvertently transmit growth signals. The abnormal signals could result in uncontrolled cell proliferation and, eventually, oncogenesis. Thus, some specific autoantibodies from among the large repertoires of autoantibodies present in the sera of cancer patients are, in reality, oncogenes. If such oncogenic autoantibodies are indeed present and can be identified, inhibition of their molecular action may be an effective therapeutic modality.