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Understanding Cancer Series: Cancer Genomics
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    Posted: 01/28/2005    Reviewed: 09/01/2006
Slide 52  :  Mutations in Tumor Suppressor Genes

Both copies of a tumor suppressor gene must be lost or mutated for cancer to occur. A person who carries a germline mutation in a tumor suppressor gene has only one functional copy of the gene in all cells. For this person, loss or mutation of the second copy of the gene in any of these cells can lead to cancer.

Mutations in Tumor Suppressor Genes