The goal of this work is summarize the contribution that insertional mutagenesis has made to our understanding of cancer. A variety of insertional mutagens are presented that have been used to study a variety of tumor types in several model organisms. In addition, the impact of insertional mutagenesis in several gene therapy trials is discussed along with strategies to avoid such complications in future clinical trials.

Adam Dupuy, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, and a rising star in the field of insertional mutagenesis; two of the last of his publications have been in Nature, and he was the lead author on one of these. Dr. Dupuy earned his B.A. at Central College in Pella, Iowar, went on to earn his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in the Program in Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Biology& Genetics, and did his Postdoctoral fellowship in the Mouse Cancer Genetics Program at the NCI-Frederick.

Chapter 1: Introduction: Author: Anton Berns (Netherlands Cancer Institute).- Chapter 2: Retroviral mutagenesis in mouse leukemia/lymphoma: Author: David Largaespada, Ph.D. (University of Minnesota).- Chapter 3: MMTV models of breast cancer: Author: John Hilkens (NKI).- Chapter 4: Retroviral mutagenesis in other organisms: Author: Michael Dvorak (Inst. Of Molecular Genetics, Prague, Czech Rep.).- Chapter 5: Sleeping Beauty models of cancer: Author: Adam J. Dupuy, Ph.D. (University of Iowa).- Chapter 6: Insertional mutagenesis in gene therapy patients: Author: David Williams, M.D. (Cincinnati Childrens Hospital).- Chapter 7: Bioinformatics of high throughput insertional mutagenesis: Author: Keiko Akagi (NCI-Frederick).