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Genetics technologies, methods, and discoveries are being integrated rapidly into medical and nursing practices in a variety of ways. The purpose of this article is to familiarize nurses with how new genetic technologies and discoveries are being incorporated into various phases of clinical oncology practice. The scope of this article is broad to provide an overview of the of ways in which cancer prevention, surveillance, diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring, treatment, and gene therapy are evolving due to advances in the molecular biology of cancer. We use specific examples to demonstrate the use of genetic information to achieve these objectives and to illustrate principles and strategies that may be applied to a variety of cancers.

It is often said that cancer is genetic. What exactly does that mean? This article is our answer to that question at the turn of the millennium. We present models of carcinogenesis, review basic cancer genetics terminology, and explain some of the fundamental genetic changes common to all types of cancer. These are organized into 6 sections of (1) self-sufficiency in growth signals, (2) insensitivity to growth-inhibitory signals, (3) evasion of programmed cell death, (4) limitless replicative potential, (5) sustained angiogenesis, and (6) tissue invasion and metastases. Underlying all of these changes are the even more fundamental enabling factors of genetic instability on both the chromosomal and the gene level. Finally, we look toward the future in a field where the future is now!