c-maf in multiple myeloma: an oncogene enhancing tumor-stroma interactions.

Gene expression profiling studies reported by Hurt et al. in this issue of Cancer Cell reveal an unexpectedly frequent overexpression of c-maf in multiple myeloma and identify molecular targets of c-maf transactivation. The results define c-maf as a prototype of a class of oncogenes that not only stimulate cell cycle progression, but also promote pathological interactions between tumor and stroma cells.