Human brain tumors are a group of tumors that primarily originate from the central nervous system. These tumors vary in their etiology, histology, biology, prognosis and treatment. The overall incident rate of brain tumors are reported to be lower compared to other human tumor types. However, it results in a disproportionately high mortality rate due to cancers. The human retinoblastoma gene (RBI) is the first human tumor suppressor (TS) gene to be identified and it is one of the most widely studied genes in a variety of human cancers. Data from these studies showed that it is one of the most important cell cycle regulatory genes. Inactivation of RBI gene has been reported in various human tumors including brain tumors. Data from the Western population indicates that the TS function of this gene is lost due to deletions, mutations or absence of its protein product in a considerable number of human brain tumor cases. To the contrary, data from the brain tumor tissues of Indian population indicates that the inactivation of RBI gene pathway could occur though a different mechanism. This could abo explain the rarity of retinoblastomas, one of the childhood tumors, in Indian population. In this review we have discussed the possible role RBI gene in the development of human brain tumors.

doi: 10.5214/ans.0972.7531.2007.140304