Cell cycle control and cancer

Cancer is a multifaceted disease, but a common feature of most tumours is that they harbour one or more genetic mutations that allow them to proliferate outside their normal growth restraints. Proliferation is normally restrained through control of the cell division cycle, which in turn, is regulated by the Cdk family of serine/threonine kinases and their regulatory partners the cyclins. Here, the roles of the Cdk/cyclin complexes in cell cycle control are described followed by a review of the genetic lesions in these and associated proteins which may contribute to tumour progression.