Death and anti-death: tumour resistance to apoptosis

Abstract

Every cell in a multicellular organism has the potential to die by apoptosis, but tumour cells often have faulty apoptotic pathways. These defects not only increase tumour mass, but also render the tumour resistant to therapy. So, what are the molecular mechanisms of tumour resistance to apoptosis and how can we use this knowledge to resensitize tumour cells to cancer therapy?