p15 critical tumour suppressor in absence of p16

Now, scientist at the Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek Hospital in Amsterdam have discovered that p15 can fulfil a critical backup function for p16 and provide an explanation for the frequent loss of p16, p19 and p15 in human tumours.

The team’s work is published in Nature in the August 23 issue.

The Dutch scientists report that mice deficient for all three genes are dramatically more tumour prone and develop a wider spectrum of tumours than p16 and/or p19 mutant mice, with a preponderance of skin tumours and soft tissue sarcomas (e.g. mesothelioma) of frequently mixed cell types and often showing biphasic differentiation.