A cancerous cell presents the sequence of events that follows the neoplastic transformation of a single mammary epithelial cell from its point of view. After multiple cell cycles, a mass is generated and becomes mammographically detectable and palpable. Metastases through the lymphatics are generated. Despite mastectomy and subsequent chemotherapy, the patient dies from widely metastatic disease, and the neoplastic cells die too. The final triumph becomes their Waterloo! The patient with her death defeats cancer!
Barcellos-HoffM. H.2000. Three down and counting: The transformation of human mammary cells from normal to malignant in three steps. Trends in Molecular Medicine17:142–43.
2.
ClareS. E.NakhlisF., and PanettaJ. C.. 2000. Molecular biology of cancer metastasis: The use of mathematical models to determine relapse and to predict response to chemotherapy in breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research2:430–35.
3.
De FraipontF.NicholsonA. C.FeigeJ. J., and Van MeirE. G.. 2001. Thrombo-spondins and tumor angiogenesis. Trends in Molecular Medicine7:401–7.
4.
GotzscheP. C., and OlsenO.. 2000. Is screening for breast cancer with mammog-raphy justifiable?Lancet355:129–34.
5.
LiottaL. A., and CohnE. C.. 2001. The microenvironment of the tumor-host interface. Nature411:375–79.
6.
NathansonK. N.WoosterR., and WeberB. L.. 2001. Breast cancer genetics: What we know and what we need. Nature Medicine Review7:552–56.
7.
PonderB. A. J.2001. Cancer genetics. Nature411:336–41.
8.
SmithM. J.GodfreyD. I., and TrapaniJ. A.. 2001. A fresh look on tumor immu-nosurveillance and immunotherapy. Nature Immunology Reviews2:293–99.
9.
VenkitaramanA. R.1999. Breast cancer genes and DNA repair. Science286:1162–66.
10.
WatsonJ. D., and CrickF. H. C.. 1953. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature171:737–38.
