Over the past decade basic and clinical research has demonstrated a therapeutic role for retinoids, in particular, retinoic acid (RA) in human cancer.Molecular events at the point of transcriptional regulation appear to be critical in determining cellular responses to retinoids.Upregulation of retinoic acid receptor beta (RARβ) gene expression is a hallmark of cancer cells exhibiting responsiveness to the anticancer effects of retinoids.