Abstract
Retinoblastoma is a rare eye cancer that has been fundamental to the understanding of tumorigenesis. The RB gene was the first tumor suppressor gene to be discovered, and the Rb protein is targeted for inactivation in the vast majority of human cancers. This chapter reviews the clinical features of retinoblastoma and highlights the insights into molecular oncology that have resulted from study of the Rb tumor suppressor pathway.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Pendergrass TW, Davis S. Incidence of retinoblastoma in the United States. Arch Ophthalmol. 1980;98:1204–10.
Harbour JW. Retinoblastoma: treatment. In: Char DH, editor. Tumors of the eye and orbit. Philadelphia: B.C. Decker; 2001. p. 266–78.
Harbour JW. Retinoblastoma: pathogenesis and diagnosis. In: Char DH, editor. Tumors of the eye and orbit. Philadelphia: B.C. Decker; 2001. p. 253–65.
Lennox EL, Draper GJ, Sanders BM. Retinoblastoma: a study of natural history and prognosis of 268 cases. Br Med J. 1975;3:731–4.
Wong FL, Boice JJ, Abramson DH, et al. Cancer incidence after retinoblastoma. Radiation dose and sarcoma risk. JAMA. 1997;278:1262–7.
Blach LE, McCormick B, Abramson DH, Ellsworth RM. Trilateral retinoblastoma—incidence and outcome: a decade of experience. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 1994;29:729–33.
Marcus DM, Brooks SE, Leff G, et al. Trilateral retinoblastoma: Insights into histogenesis and management. Surv Ophthalmol. 1998;43:59–70.
Moll AC, Imhof SM, Bouter LM, Tan KE. Second primary tumors in patients with retinoblastoma. A review of the literature. Ophthalmic Genet. 1997;18:27–34.
Eng C, Li FP, Abramson DH, et al. Mortality from second tumors among long-term survivors of retinoblastoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1993;85:1121–8.
Fletcher O, Easton D, Anderson K, Gilham C, Jay M, Peto J. Lifetime risks of common cancers among retinoblastoma survivors. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2004;96:357–63.
Harbour JW. Eye cancer: unique insights into oncogenesis: The Cogan Lecture. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006;47:1736–45.
Neel JV, Falls HF. The rate of mutation of the gene responsible for retinoblastoma in man. Science. 1951;114:419–22.
Knudson Jr AG. Mutation and cancer: statistical study of retinoblastoma. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1971;68:820–3.
Gallie BL, Ellsworth RM, Abramson DH, Phillips RA. Retinoma: spontaneous regression of retinoblastoma or benign manifestation of the mutation? Br J Cancer. 1982;45:513–21.
Margo C, Hidayat A, Kopelman J. Retinocytoma: a benign variant of retinoblastoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 1983;101:1519–31.
Nork TM, Schwartz TL, Doshi HM, Millecchia LL. Retinoblastoma. Cell of origin. Arch Ophthalmol. 1995;113:791–802.
Bogenmann E, Lochrie MA, Simon MI. Cone cell-specific genes expressed in retinoblastoma. Science. 1988;240:76–8.
Vrabec T, Arbizo V, Adamus G, McDowell JH, Hargrave PA, Donoso LA. Rod cell-specific antigens in retinoblastoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 1989;107:1061–3.
Khelfaoui F, Validire P, Auperin A, et al. Histopathologic risk factors in retinoblastoma: a retrospective study of 172 patients treated in a single institution. Cancer. 1996;77:1206–13.
Albert DM, McGhee CN, Seddon JM, Weichselbaum RR. Development of additional primary tumors after 62 years in the first patient with retinoblastoma cured by radiation therapy. Am J Ophthalmol. 1984;97:189–96.
Roarty JD, McLean IW, Zimmerman LE. Incidence of second neoplasms in patients with bilateral retinoblastoma. Ophthalmology. 1988;95:1583–7.
Friend SH, Bernards R, Rogelj S, et al. A human DNA segment with properties of the gene that predisposes to retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma. Nature. 1986;323:643–6.
Abramson DH, Frank CM. Second nonocular tumors in survivors of bilateral retinoblastoma: a possible age effect on radiation-related risk. Ophthalmology. 1998;105:573–9.
Gallie BL, Budning A, DeBoer G, et al. Chemotherapy with focal therapy can cure intraocular retinoblastoma without radiotherapy. Arch Ophthalmol. 1996;114:1321–8.
Murphree AL, Villablanca JG, Deegan WR, et al. Chemotherapy plus local treatment in the management of intraocular retinoblastoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 1996;114:1348–56.
Franke U. Retinoblastoma and chromosome 13. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1976;16:131–4.
Sparkes RS, Sparkes MC, Wilson MG, et al. Regional assignment of genes for human esterase D and retinoblastoma to chromosome band 13q14. Science. 1980;208:1042–4.
Benedict WF, Murphree AL, Banerjee A, Spina CA, Sparkes MC, Sparkes RS. Patient with 13 chromosome deletion: evidence that the retinoblastoma gene is a recessive cancer gene. Science. 1983;219:973–5.
Cavenee WK, Dryja TP, Phillips RA, et al. Expression of recessive alleles by chromosomal mechanisms in retinoblastoma. Nature. 1983;305:779–84.
Fung YK, Murphree AL, T'Ang A, Qian J, Hinrichs SH, Benedict WF. Structural evidence for the authenticity of the human retinoblastoma gene. Science. 1987;236:1657–61.
Lee WH, Bookstein R, Hong F, Young LJ, Shew JY, Lee EY. Human retinoblastoma susceptibility gene: cloning, identification, and sequence. Science. 1987;235:1394–9.
Madreperla SA, Whittum-Hudson JA, Prendergast RA, Chen PL, Lee WH. Intraocular tumor suppression of retinoblastoma gene-reconstituted retinoblastoma cells. Cancer Res. 1991;51:6381–4.
Wiggs J, Nordenskjold M, Yandell D, et al. Prediction of the risk of hereditary retinoblastoma, using DNA polymorphisms within the retinoblastoma gene. N Engl J Med. 1988;318:151–7.
Blanquet V, Turleau C, de Grouchy J, Creau-Goldberg N. Physical map around the retinoblastoma gene: possible genomic imprinting suggested by NruI digestion. Genomics. 1991;10:350–5.
Harbour JW. Overview of RB gene mutations in patients with retinoblastoma. Implications for clinical genetic screening. Ophthalmology. 1998;105:1442–7.
Mancini D, Singh S, Ainsworth P, Rodenhiser D. Constitutively methylated CpG dinucleotides as mutation hot spots in the retinoblastoma gene (RB1). Am J Hum Genet. 1997;61:80–7.
Zhu X, Dunn JM, Goddard AD, et al. Mechanisms of loss of heterozygosity in retinoblastoma. Cytogenet Cell Genet. 1992;59:248–52.
Harbour JW. Molecular basis of low-penetrance retinoblastoma. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119:1699–704.
Chow KN, Dean DC. Domains A and B in the Rb pocket interact to form a transcriptional repressor motif. Mol Cell Biol. 1996;16:4862–8.
Qin XQ, Chittenden T, Livingston DM, Kaelin Jr WG. Identification of a growth suppression domain within the retinoblastoma gene product. Genes Dev. 1992;6:953–64.
Hiebert SW. Regions of the retinoblastoma gene product required for its interaction with the E2F transcription factor are necessary for E2 promoter repression and pRb-mediated growth suppression. Mol Cell Biol. 1993;13:3384–91.
Xiao ZX, Chen J, Levine AJ, et al. Interaction between the retinoblastoma protein and the oncoprotein MDM2. Nature. 1995;375:694–8.
Hsieh JK, Chan FS, O'Connor DJ, Mittnacht S, Zhong S, Lu X. RB regulates the stability and the apoptotic function of p53 via MDM2. Mol Cell. 1999;3:181–93.
Welch PJ, Wang JY. A C-terminal protein-binding domain in the retinoblastoma protein regulates nuclear c-Abl tyrosine kinase in the cell cycle. Cell. 1993;75:779–90.
Xu HJ, Xu K, Zhou Y, Li J, Benedict WF, Hu SX. Enhanced tumor cell growth suppression by an N-terminal truncated retinoblastoma protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994;91:9837–41.
Harbour JW, Dean DC. Rb function in cell-cycle regulation and apoptosis. Nat Cell Biol. 2000;2:E65–7.
Lee WH, Shew JY, Hong FD, et al. The retinoblastoma susceptibility gene encodes a nuclear phosphoprotein associated with DNA binding activity. Nature. 1987;329:642–5.
DeCaprio JA, Ludlow JW, Lynch D, et al. The product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene has properties of a cell cycle regulatory element. Cell. 1989;58:1085–95.
DeCaprio JA, Furukawa Y, Ajchenbaum F, Griffin JD, Livingston DM. The retinoblastoma-susceptibility gene product becomes phosphorylated in multiple stages during cell cycle entry and progression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992;89:1795–8.
Stein GH, Beeson M, Gordon L. Failure to phosphorylate the retinoblastoma gene product in senescent human fibroblasts. Science. 1990;249:666–9.
Chen PL, Scully P, Shew JY, Wang JY, Lee WH. Phosphorylation of the retinoblastoma gene product is modulated during the cell cycle and cellular differentiation. Cell. 1989;58:1193–8.
Ikeda MA, Jakoi L, Nevins JR. A unique role for the Rb protein in controlling E2F accumulation during cell growth and differentiation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996;93:3215–20.
DeCaprio JA, Ludlow JW, Figge J, et al. SV40 large tumor antigen forms a specific complex with the product of the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene. Cell. 1988;54:275–83.
Whyte P, Buchkovich KJ, Horowitz JM, et al. Association between an oncogene and an anti-oncogene: the adenovirus E1A proteins bind to the retinoblastoma gene product. Nature. 1988;334:124–9.
Dyson N, Howley PM, Munger K, Harlow E. The human papilloma virus-16 E7 oncoprotein is able to bind to the retinoblastoma gene product. Science. 1989;243:934–7.
Chellappan SP, Hiebert S, Mudryj M, Horowitz JM, Nevins JR. The E2F transcription factor is a cellular target for the RB protein. Cell. 1991;65:1053–61.
DeGregori J, Johnson DG. Distinct and overlapping roles for e2f family members in transcription, proliferation and apoptosis. Curr Mol Med. 2006;6:739–48.
Helin K, Harlow E, Fattaey A. Inhibition of E2F-1 transactivation by direct binding of the retinoblastoma protein. Mol Cell Biol. 1993;13:6501–8.
Flemington EK, Speck SH, Kaelin WJ. E2F-1-mediated transactivation is inhibited by complex formation with the retinoblastoma susceptibility gene product. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993;90:6914–8.
Weintraub SJ, Chow KN, Luo RX, Zhang SH, He S, Dean DC. Mechanism of active transcriptional repression by the retinoblastoma protein. Nature. 1995;375:812–5.
Harbour JW, Dean DC. The Rb/E2F pathway: emerging paradigms and expanding roles. Genes Dev. 2000;14:2545–62.
Harbour JW, Dean DC. Chromatin remodeling and Rb activity. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2000;12:685–9.
Magnaghi JL, Groisman R, Naguibneva I, et al. Retinoblastoma protein represses transcription by recruiting a histone deacetylase. Nature. 1998;391:601–5.
Brehm A, Miska EA, McCance DJ, Reid JL, Bannister AJ, Kouzarides T. Retinoblastoma protein recruits histone deacetylase to repress transcription. Nature. 1998;391:597–601.
Robertson KD, Ait-Si-Ali S, Yokochi T, Wade PA, Jones PL, Wolffe AP. DNMT1 forms a complex with Rb, E2F1 and HDAC1 and represses transcription from E2F-responsive promoters. Nat Genet. 2000;25:338–42.
Dahiya A, Wong S, Gonzalo S, Gavin M, Dean DC. Linking the Rb and polycomb pathways. Mol Cell. 2001;8:557–69.
Nielsen SJ, Schneider R, Bauer UM, et al. Rb targets histone H3 methylation and HP1 to promoters. Nature. 2001;412:561–5.
Luo RX, Postigo AA, Dean DC. Rb interacts with histone deacetylase to repress transcription. Cell. 1998;92:463–73.
Zhang HS, Postigo AA, Dean DC. Active transcriptional repression by the Rb-E2F complex mediates G1 arrest triggered by p16INK4a, TGFß, and contact inhibition. Cell. 1999;97:53–61.
Harbour JW, Luo RX, Dei Sante A, Postigo AA, Dean DC. Cdk phosphorylation triggers sequential intramolecular interactions that progressively block Rb functions as cells move through G1. Cell. 1999;98:859–69.
Ma D, Zhou P, Harbour JW. Distinct mechanisms for regulating the tumor suppressor and antiapoptotic functions of Rb. J Biol Chem. 2003;278:19358–66.
Delston RB, Harbour JW. Rb at the interface between cell cycle and apoptotic decisions. Curr Mol Med. 2006;6:713–8.
Harbour JW, Lai SL, Whang-Peng J, Gazdar AF, Minna JD, Kaye FJ. Abnormalities in structure and expression of the human retinoblastoma gene in SCLC. Science. 1988;241:353–7.
Sherr CJ. Cancer cell cycles. Science. 1996;274:1672–7.
Ewen ME, Sluss HK, Sherr CJ, Matsushime H, Kato J, Livingston DM. Functional interactions of the retinoblastoma protein with mammalian D-type cyclins. Cell. 1993;73:487–97.
Arnold A. The cyclin D1/PRAD1 oncogene in human neoplasia. J Investig Med. 1995;43:543–9.
Brantley Jr MA, Harbour JW. Inactivation of retinoblastoma protein in uveal melanoma by phosphorylation of sites in the COOH-terminal region. Cancer Res. 2000;60:4320–3.
Wolfel T, Hauer M, Schneider J, et al. A p16INK4a-insensitive CDK4 mutant targeted by cytolytic T lymphocytes in a human melanoma. Science. 1995;269:1281–4.
Okamoto A, Demetrick DJ, Spillare EA, et al. Mutations and altered expression of p16INK4 in human cancer. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1994;91:11045–9.
Shackney SE, Shankey TV. Cell cycle models for molecular biology and molecular oncology: exploring new dimensions. Cytometry. 1999;35:97–116.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Harbour, J.W. (2017). Retinoblastoma: Clinical and Molecular Perspectives. In: Coleman, W., Tsongalis, G. (eds) The Molecular Basis of Human Cancer. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-458-2_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59745-458-2_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-934115-18-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-59745-458-2
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)