work has shown that down regulation of cyclin B1 can lead to tumor regression. A possible treatment option for tumor suppression is to deliver gene or protein to target the degradation of cyclin B1. Previous work done has shown that cyclin B1 is essential for tumor cell survival and proliferation and that a decrease in expression levels only leads to tumor-specific and not normal cell death. Reduction of cyclin B1 can stop cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle and triggers cell death by preventing the chromosomes from condensing and aligning. The specific downregulation of cyclin B1, however, did not influence other molecules that facilitated the transition from the G2 to M phase such as Cdk1, Cdc25c, Plk1 and cyclin A. Therefore the delivery of a therapeutic gene to correct these mutations is a viable treatment option for tumor suppression. Tumor antigen In early stages of cancer when the cyclin B1 concentration is high, it is recognized by the immune system, leading to the production of antibodies and T cells. It would then be possible to take advantage of this to monitor the immune response for early cancer detection. An ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) can be performed to the measure the antibodies recognizing cyclin B1. Breast cancer Cyclin B1 expression levels can be used as a tool to determine prognosis of patients with breast cancers. The intracellular concentration can have important implications for cancer prognosis. High levels of nuclear cyclin B1 is associated with high tumor grade, larger tumor size and higher metastasis probability, therefore a high level of cyclin B1 is a predictor of poor prognosis. Lung cancer Studies in non-small cell lung cancer demonstrated that high levels of cyclin B1 are associated with poorer prognosis. The study also found that this correlation between expression levels was only found in patients with squamous cell carcinoma. This finding indicates the possibility of using cyclin B1 expression as a prognostic marker for patients with early stage non-small cell lung cancer. See also Cyclin B References Further reading