ABSTRACT
ras oncogenes came into the spotlight of cancer research in 1982 when several independent groups discovered that the transforming genes of certain human tumors were activated counterparts of the normal cellular homologs of viral ras oncogenes. 1 - 8 Subsequent analyses revealed that ras gene mutations can be found in a variety of tumor types. Its presence and expression are well documented in many of the most common and devastating human malignancies including carcinomas of the pancreas, lung, colon, kidney, skin, thyroid, bladder, and testicle, as well as in hematologic malignancies including acute myelogenous leukemia 9 - 12 (for a review see Reference 13).
