When Robert Strausberg, Ph.D., became director of the NCI's Cancer Genome Anatomy Project (CGAP) [http://cgap.nci.nih.gov/] in 1997, he admittedly faced a huge challenge. He had been asked to lead a brand-new program, whose initial project was to create the first index of genes expressed in human cancers - a feat, many said that was more ambitious than feasible.

Cancer Genes Coding for Growth Factors or Receptors for Growth Factors: Her-2 or neu or erbB-2 is a gene that codes for a growth factor receptor that sits on the cell's surface and relays a growth-stimulating signal to the cell's interior, the nucleus. The mutant gene has been detected in breast, salivary gland, and ovarian cancers.