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Molecular cancer genetics has developed during the last three decades as an independent discipline. Recent technological advances and discoveries in genomic and molecular research, including genome-wide analyses, provided unprecedented amount of knowledge on the aetiology of human cancer, and offered a framework for applying the novel results to clinical studies and the rapidly evolving field of molecular oncology. The Department of Molecular Genetics at NIO was established in 1986. Our group has played a pioneering role in molecular cancer research in Hungary and the region. This article overviews the achievements of our Department generated over the last two decades with a focus on cancer (susceptibility) genes.

The author surveys the way leading to the electronic theory of cancer and analyses the role of methylglyoxal and glyoxalases. Based on the comparison of experimental data with the theory it can be concluded that (i) data being at disposal are not convincing enough either to verify or to confute the theory; (ii) compounds having function to influence the glyoxalase system can, however, be considered as tumour-selective anticancer agents.