Large common fragile site genes and cancer

The common fragile sites are large regions of genomic instability that are found in all individuals and are hot spots for chromosomal rearrangements and deletions. A number of the common fragile sites have been found to span genes that are encoded by very large genomic regions. Two of these genes, FHIT and WWOX, have already been demonstrated to function as tumor suppressors. In this review we will discuss the large common fragile site genes that have been identified to date, and the role that these genes appear to play both in cellular responses to stress and in the development of cancer.