Molecular biologic aspects of human prostatic carcinoma

Adenocarcinoma of the prostate is the most common noncutaneous malignancy in American men, yet relatively little is known about the molecular mechanisms involved in its initiation and progression. This review surveys the current state of knowledge of selected molecular biological aspects of human prostate cancer. It focuses on four classes of genes implicated in the growth control and cellular differentiation of human prostatic carcinoma: tumor suppressor genes, oncogenes, growth factor genes, and growth factor receptor genes. The relation of changes in structure or expression or both of these genes to pathologic or clinical endpoints is discussed.