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Advances in the field of molecular biology have resulted in a decent understanding of the causes for and mechanisms through which healthy cells can develop into cancer cells. It is, for instance, well established that cancer is caused by mutation of so-called cancer genes. That said, current knowledge on exactly which genes can function as a cancer gene is far from complete. Further- more, the genes for which a causal relation to tumor development is established are generally poorly characterized. Especially the regulatory pathways through which cancer genes exhibit their malicious effect on healthy cell division remain largely elusive.
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