Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine

The transition from a single, initiated cell to a full-blown malignant tumor involves significant genomic evolution. Exposure to carcinogens-whether directly mutagenic or not-can drive progression toward malignancy, as can stochastic acquis…

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a histological subtype of epithelial ovarian cancer with distinct pathological features, molecular profiles, and biological functions. OCCC has high incidence rates in East Asia compared to the Western…

The embryology of the female reproductive organs is reviewed focusing on aspects relevant to the histogenesis of reproductive neoplasms. The evidence reviewed suggests that (1) there is no embryological link between the ovarian surface epit…

Given the challenges with achieving effective and durable treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer, primary prevention is highly desirable. Fortunately, decades of research have provided evidence for several strategies that can be deployed t…

The ovarian epithelial cancer histotypes can be divided into common and rare types. Common types include high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas and the endometriosis-associated cancers, endometrioid and clear-cell carcinomas. The less common …

Angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels, plays a critical role in tissue repair and regeneration, as well as in cancer. A paradigm shift is emerging in our understanding of the resolution of inflammation as an active biochemical proce…

Sterile inflammation within primary tumor tissues can spread to distant organs that are devoid of tumor cells. This happens in a manner dependent on tumor-led secretome, before the actual metastasis occurs. The premetastatic microenvironmen…

Germline alterations of the tumor suppressor PTEN have been extensively characterized in patients with PTEN hamartoma tumor syndromes, encompassing subsets of Cowden syndrome, Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome, Proteus and Proteus-like synd…

A plethora of mutations in chromatin regulators in diverse human cancers is emerging, attesting to the pivotal role of chromatin dynamics in tumorigenesis. A recurrent theme is inactivation of the chromodomain helicase DNA-binding (CHD) fam…

During the last decade, a host of epigenetic mechanisms were found to contribute to cancer and other human diseases. Several genomic studies have revealed that ∼20% of malignancies have alterations of the subunits of polymorphic BRG-/BRM-as…

Human endometrium has been extensively investigated in the search for markers capable of predicting its receptive status. The completion of the Human Genome Project has triggered a rapid development of new fields in molecular biology, the "…

The timing of birth is a critical determinant of perinatal outcome. Despite intensive research, the molecular mechanisms responsible for the onset of labor both at term and preterm remain unclear. It is likely that a "parturition cascade" e…

HOX genes convey positional identity that leads to the proper partitioning and adult identity of the female reproductive track. Abnormalities in reproductive tract development can be caused by HOX gene mutations or altered HOX gene expressi…

A wide variety of diseases have a significant genetic component, including major causes of morbidity and mortality in the western world. Many of these diseases are also angiogenesis dependent. In humans, common polymorphisms, although more …