Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 2-4 (July 2002) Functions of p53 suppress critical consequences of damage and repair in the initiation of cancer  Thea D Tlsty  Cancer Cell  Volume 2, Issue 1, Pages 2-4 (July 2002) DOI: 10.1016/S1535-6108(02)00088-0

Figure 1 Generation of complicons In a properly functioning cell (A), the majority of continually produced DNA damage is repaired. The few lesions that avoid repair activate functions of p53 that cause these cells to be cleared from the population. Inadequate removal of damaged DNA can overwhelm the second line of defense (p53), and rare cells with rearrangements survive (B). Finally, in cells that have lost both NHEJ and p53 functions (C), abnormal cells are readily produced and are no longer cleared from the population. These cells continue to proliferate and acquire the genomic changes that allow for malignant outgrowth. Cancer Cell 2002 2, 2-4DOI: (10.1016/S1535-6108(02)00088-0)