The ninth Gordon Hamilton-Fairley memorial lecture. Hereditary cancers: clues to mechanisms of carcinogenesis.

The study of hereditary cancer in humans, notably retinoblastoma, has identified a category of cancer genes that is different from that of the oncogenes. Whereas the latter group of genes exerts its effect through expression, the former does so as a result of failure of normal expression. Primary oncogene abnormality seems to play a crucial initiating role in certain neoplasms, particularly leukaemias, lymphomas and some sarcomas. In contrast, anti-oncogenes (tumour suppressor genes) appear to be important in the initiation of several solid tumours of children, as well as some common carcinomas of adults. Both classes are apparently involved in tumour progression and metastasis. Virtually every kind of cancer can occur in hereditary form, so the role of anti-oncogenes in the origin of human cancers may be considerable. The prototypic anti-oncogene has been that for retinoblastoma. For this tumour the recessive mechanism has been demonstrated by molecular means, and the gene has been cloned. The possibility has been suggested that gene (or gene product) replacement therapy could be accomplished.