EDITORIALTo the Readers and Future Authors of Critical Reviews in Oncogenesis

We have with enthusiasm taken the challenge from Begell House, the publisher, to reintroduce Critical Reviews in Oncogenesis (CRO) to an audience of scientists, students, and health personnel.The last issue of CRO was published in 2000, and the following year, the first draft of the human genome sequence was published. 1,2Those latter publications are among the most important ones following the identification of the DNA helix more than 50 years ago. 3The biological breakthroughs, combined with the tremendous technological developments, state that modern biomedical research and advanced medicine are truly dependent on competences across sciences.With this in mind, we believe that the new CRO should attempt to grasp the interest of a broad range of readers, from those dedicated to cancer research to those with educational interests, or with the wish to be updated in the latest research and to obtain easily accessible overviews of cancer relevant themes.We will seek to cover basic research, translational, and clinical issues, as well as epidemiological studies, all of which are cornerstones in any comprehensive cancer center.In this first issue, we present six review articles covering a broad range of aspects of cancer science.The article by Mesquita et al., beginning on page 3, 4 reviews the interesting topic of tissue transdifferentiation with focus on a naturally occurring process -gastric intestinal metaplasia.The authors challenge the conservative textbook definition and provide an update on the molecular regulation mechanisms of this phenomenon.This article reviews a topic of interest to a wide range of sciences, including stem cell research.The challenge of molecular mechanisms explaining complex morphological tissue patterns are also discussed by Torlacovic and Snover, beginning on page 27. 5 These authors present a useful overview of classification of colorectal polyps with emphasis on the spectrum of serrated polyps.The latter is an unfamiliar term to many and is often, and wrongly, included in the subgroup of hyperplastic polyps.The identification of the serrated pathway will not only aid in understanding the tumor etiology, but also have clinical consequences for the patients.The group of Guldberg from the University of Copenhagen has long experience in mutational analyses in cancers, as well as in other diseases.Their article by Dahl et al., beginning on page 41, 6 provides an in-depth critical review of the benefits and limitations of some of the most used methods for detection of unknown mutations, as well as for diagnostic analyses of known mutations.Germline mutations that predispose individuals to a variable extent of risk to develop breast cancer are summarized in a review on familial breast cancer by Margolin and Lindblom beginning on page 75. 7This article also covers the clinical implications of gene testing in breast cancer as well as strategies for prevention and treatment.Another clinical challenge for one of the major cancer diseases in the Western world, carcinomas in the large bowel, is dealt with in the article from