Cancer, a chronic proliferative disease with multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations, develops as a result of an accumulation of various endogenous and exogenous causes. Recent advances in cancer research have uncovered the molecular mechanisms of the development and progression of the disease. Multiple alterations during carcinogenesis are found in tumor suppressor genes, on-cogenes, DNA repair genes, cell cycle regulators, cell adhesion molecules, growth factors/receptors, matrix me-talloproteinases and other sites. Because of different but also common molecular bases, each cancer displays a different biological behavior and response to treatment. Recent focus has been on the presence of cancer stem cells in terms of chemoradiotherapy.
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