A novel oncogene URG4/URGCP and its role in cancer.

Oncogenes are mutated form of normal cellular genes called as proto-oncogenes and conduce to the cancer development process. Despite the fact that so many genes have been described, new genes with oncogenic characteristic and potential or tumor supressoring activity are still being defined. Recently, Up-regulated gene 4/Upregulator of cell proliferation (URG4/URGCP), a novel gene, induced by hepatitis-Bvirus-encoded X antigen (HBxAg), has been identified.