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Understanding wild-type and mutant p53 activities in human cancer: new landmarks on the way to targeted therapies

Cancer Gene Therapy volume 18, pages 2–11 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

Three decades of p53 research have led to many advances in understanding the basic biology of normal and cancer cells. Nonetheless, the detailed functions of p53 in normal cells, and even more so in cancer cells, remain obscure. A major breakthrough is the realization that mutant p53 has a life of its own: it contributes to cancer not only through loss of activity, but also through gain of specific ‘mutant functions’. This new focus on mutant p53 is the rationale behind the meeting series dedicated to advances on mutant p53 biology. This review provides an overview of results presented at the Fourth International Workshop on Mutant p53, held in Akko, Israel in March 2009. New roles and functions of p53 relevant for tumor suppressions were presented, including the regulation of microRNAs networks, the modulation of cell–stroma interactions and the induction of senescence. A main focus of the meeting was the rapidly growing body of knowledge on autonomous properties of mutant p53 and on their oncogenic ‘gain of function’ impact. Importantly, the meeting highlighted that, 30 years after p53 discovery, research on mutant p53 is entering the clinical and translational era. Two major steps forward in this respect are a better understanding of the active mechanism of small drugs targeting mutant p53 in tumor cells and an improved definition of the prognostic and predictive value of mutant p53 in human cancer.

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Acknowledgements

The Fourth International Workshop on Mutant p53 was supported by the EU FP6 program on ‘Mutant p53’ and by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Collaborations between IARC and The Weizmann Institute on ‘Mutant p53’ are supported by a grant of Cancéropôle Rhône-Alpes Auvergne, France. The authors gratefully thank the different lecturers for their contribution to the Workshop and to this manuscript.

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  1. I Goldstein and V Marcel: These authors contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovat, Israel

    I Goldstein, M Oren & V Rotter

  2. Molecular Carcinogenesis Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France

    V Marcel, M Olivier & P Hainaut

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Goldstein, I., Marcel, V., Olivier, M. et al. Understanding wild-type and mutant p53 activities in human cancer: new landmarks on the way to targeted therapies. Cancer Gene Ther 18, 2–11 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2010.63

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