Molecular basis of cancer and clinical applications

This article attempts to show the vertiginous advances that exist today in the concept of what cancer is. The authors chose some multiple biologic concepts that have enabled the progress in the knowledge of this disease to occur at a speed no one could imagine until recently. Although the areas and biologic problems that remain to be solved are more numerous and complex than they expected, the basic fundamentals already partially understood and the multidisciplinary integration of the various medical specialties with biomolecular research enable physicians to face the next millennium with great optimism about the possibilities of therapeutic success, prevention, and effective early diagnosis.