cancer
The products of proto-oncogenes are required for normal growth, repair and homeostasis. However, when these genes are mutated, they turn into oncogenes and play a role in the development of cancer. Proto-oncogenes may be growth factors, transcription factors, or other proteins involved in regulation. A very common oncogene, ras , is normally a regulatory GTPase that switches a signal transduction chain on and off. Ras and Ras-related proteins are products of oncogenes found in 20% to 30% of human tumors. The transcription factor myc is an oncogene often seen mutated in Burkitts lymphoma, a rare type of lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphocytes.