Joseph Lipsick Departments of Pathology, Genetics, and Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-5324, USA Correspondence: lipsickstanford.edu

Transcription factors play crucial roles in cancer, and oncogenic counterparts of cellular transcription factors are present in a number of tumor viruses. It was studies in the early 1980s that first showed tumor viruses could encode nuclear as well as cytoplasmic oncoproteins. Subsequent work provided detailed insight into their mechanisms of action, as well as potential therapeutic avenues. In this excerpt from his forthcoming book on the history of cancer research, Joe Lipsick looks back at early work on nuclear oncogenes, including the discovery of MYC, MYB, FOS and JUN, Rel/NF-κB, and nuclear receptors such as the retinoic acid receptor and thyroid hormone receptor.