USMLE Step 1 Year: 2024 Number: 1076

A 56-year-old man receives radiation therapy for a squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. Despite therapy, the tumor progressively increases in size, and he dies 6 months later. His tumor cells contain a point mutation in the p53 gene (TP53), leading to an inactive gene product. Based on this finding, the progressive tumor growth despite irradiation therapy is most likely to be related to a defect in cell cycle arrest in which of the following phases of the cell cycle?

G0
G1
G2
M
S