Insights into gliomagenesis: systems biology unravels key pathways
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* Corresponding author: Sandro J de Souza sandro@ludwig.org.br
1 Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, São Paulo branch, Rua João Julião 245, 1 andar, São Paulo, 01323-903, Brazil
2 Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Rua Santa Adélia, 166 Bairro Bangu, Santo André, São Paulo, 09210-170, Brazil
Genome Medicine 2009, 1:101 doi:10.1186/gm101
Published: 27 October 2009Abstract
Technological advances have enabled a better characterization of all the genetic alterations in tumors. A picture that emerges is that tumor cells are much more genetically heterogeneous than originally expected. Thus, a critical issue in cancer genomics is the identification of the genetic alterations that drive the genesis of a tumor. Recently, a systems biology approach has been used to characterize such alterations and find associations between them and the process of gliomagenesis. Here, we discuss some implications of this strategy for the development of new therapeutic and diagnostic protocols for cancer.