Dickson R B, Gottardis M M, Merlino G T
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Lombardi Cancer Research Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007.
Bioessays. 1991 Nov;13(11):591-6. doi: 10.1002/bies.950131109.
We desperately need to know more of the biological details of the onset and progression of breast cancer. The disease is of startlingly high incidence (approaching 1 in 9 women), our current therapies for the disease are inadequate once it has metastasized, and the disease is characterized by excessive morbidity and mortality. Most of the growth and differentiation of the mammary gland occurs relatively late in life: during sexual maturation, and then cyclically during pregnancy and lactation. Normal as well as malignant growth is regulated by endocrine hormones as well as by local tissue factors, such as polypeptide growth factors. Cancer seems to progress as hyperplastic ductal or lobular epithelial growth, acquiring progressive genetic changes (including those of oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes) leading to clonal outgrowths of progressively more malignant cells. The nature of proliferative controls and the relevant genetic changes are the subjects of the current review.
我们迫切需要更多了解乳腺癌发病及进展的生物学细节。这种疾病的发病率惊人地高（接近九分之一的女性患病），目前我们针对该疾病的治疗方法在其发生转移后并不充分，而且该疾病具有过高的发病率和死亡率。乳腺的大部分生长和分化发生在生命的相对晚期：在性成熟期间，然后在怀孕和哺乳期间周期性发生。正常生长以及恶性生长都受内分泌激素以及局部组织因子（如多肽生长因子）的调节。癌症似乎是作为增生性导管或小叶上皮生长而进展的，获得渐进性的基因变化（包括癌基因和肿瘤抑制基因的变化），导致恶性程度越来越高的细胞克隆性生长。增殖控制的本质以及相关的基因变化是本综述的主题。
