p21(WAF1) Mediates Cell-Cycle Inhibition, Relevant to Cancer Suppression and Therapy.

p21 (WAF1/CIP1; CDKN1a) is a universal cell-cycle inhibitor directly controlled by p53 and p53-independent pathways. Knowledge of the regulation and function of p21 in normal and cancer cells has opened up several areas of investigation and has led to novel therapeutic strategies. The discovery in 1993 and subsequent work on p21 has illuminated basic cellular growth control, stem cell phenotypes, the physiology of differentiation, as well as how cells respond to stress. There remain open questions in the signaling networks, the ultimate role of p21 in the p53-deficiency phenotype in the context of other p53 target defects, and therapeutic strategies continue to be a work in progress. Cancer Res; 76(18); 5189-91. ©2016 AACRSee related article by El-Deiry et al., Cancer Res 1994;54:1169-74Visit the Cancer Research 75(th) Anniversary timeline. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.