Amplification of oncogenes revisited: from expression profiling to clinical application

Regulatory or structural alterations of cellular oncogenes have been implicated in the causation of cancers. Amplification represents one of the major molecular pathways by which gene expression is constitutively enhanced above the level of physiologically normal variation. Consequently, the significance of oncogene amplification in tumorigenesis originally had emerged from expression profiling of tumor cells by oncogene arrays. Amplified oncogenes have been found associated with more aggressive tumor variants and in selected settings are clinical markers to determine patient prognosis.