The TP53 gene was discovered independently by several laboratories in 1979.
Ironically, it was initially believed to be an oncogene, because the first cloned versions contained mutant forms that promoted tumor growth.
Only later did investigators recognize that the normal (”wild-type”) TP53 protein functions as one of the body’s most powerful tumor suppressors.
Today TP53 is recognized as:
the most frequently mutated gene in human cancer
mutated in approximately 50–60% of all malignancies
functionally inactivated in many additional cancers without mutation
central to preventing malignant transformation
No other single gene has such broad influence across virtually every type of cancer.
