Of mice and Myc: c-Myc and mammary tumorigenesis

The proto-oncogene c- myc is involved in regulating proliferation and apoptosis, and its deregulation via genomic and postgenomic mechanisms, contributes to the development and progression of multiple human cancers, including those of the breast. Deregulated expression of c-Myc also contributes to neoplastic transformation by altering cellular differentiation pathways and by facilitating mutagenesis through induction of genomic instability. Transgenic and gene-knockout mice are frequently utilized to resolve the mechanisms through which specific genes influence the development and progression of malignancies. In this review, we discuss how research findings obtained from various c- myc transgenic mammary tumor models help to improve our resolution of c-Myc's role both in tumorigenesis of the murine mammary gland and cancer of the human breast.