Expression of oncogenes in human tumours with special reference to the head and neck region.

A major recent advance in cancer research has been in the field of oncogenes. Oncogenes are genes with a proven cancer association and which appear to be particularly implicated in cellular regulation and proliferation. The oncogenic potential of specific cellular genes has now been recognised and this has influenced current thinking concerning the initiation of carcinogenesis. The specific role of an oncogene is still incompletely understood but research with one particular oncogene (ras) has demonstrated that it can be involved in more than one stage of multi-step carcinogenesis. New techniques are being developed and evaluated to determine the expression of specific oncogenes in normal and neoplastic tissues, with a view to using them in future diagnostic immuno-histopathological methods. This review describes the concept of oncogenes and discusses their role in the development of neoplasia. The results of the expression of various oncogenes in human malignancies with special reference to the head and neck regions are discussed. Finally, the future prospects of this research field are examined their and its possible implications in cancer therapy.