p53 in Human Cancer

It has been a brief and dizzying trip for p53, from an obscure gene with marginal transforming activity in tissue-culture cells to the most ubiquitous genetic alteration in human cancer. p53 was not the first oncogene to be implicated in the etiology of human cancer. However, the emergent story has been in large part responsible for the current frenzy of activity and widespread enthusiasm for studying the genetics of human cancer. Important aspects of the p53 story remain unknown: the function of the gene product and its central role as a target for transformation in such a variety of systems are still challenging questions.