Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in breast and renal cancer: current state and future approaches (review).

Cancer is a major health problem and cause of death worldwide that accounted for 7.6 million deaths in 2008, which is projected to continue rising with an estimated 13.1 million deaths in 2030 according to WHO.

Molecular oncology focus - is carcinogenesis a 'mitochondriopathy'?

Mitochondria are sub-cellular organelles that produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). As suggested over 70 years ago by Otto Warburg and recently confirmed with molecular techniques, alterations in respiratory activity and in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) appear to be common features of malignant cells. Somatic mtDNA mutations have been reported in many types of cancer cells, and some reports document the prevalence of inherited mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms in cancer patients.