Can Systems Biology Understand Pathway Activation? Gene Expression Signatures as Surrogate Markers for Understanding the Complexity of Pathway Activation

摘要

Cancer is thought to be caused by a sequence of multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations which occur in one or more of the genes controlling cell cycle progression and signaling transduction. The complexity of carcinogenic mechanisms leads to heterogeneity in molecular phenotype, pathology, and prognosis of cancers.