Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research
The induction of apoptosis, a highly regulated and clearly defined mode of cell dying, is a vital tenet of modern cancer therapy. In this review we focus on three aspects of apoptosis research which we believe are the most crucial and most exciting areas currently investigated and that will need to...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2014-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/15/3/3746 |
| _version_ | 1811221347266723840 |
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| author | Mike-Andrew Westhoff Oliver Brühl Lisa Nonnenmacher Georg Karpel-Massler Klaus-Michael Debatin |
| author_facet | Mike-Andrew Westhoff Oliver Brühl Lisa Nonnenmacher Georg Karpel-Massler Klaus-Michael Debatin |
| author_sort | Mike-Andrew Westhoff |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The induction of apoptosis, a highly regulated and clearly defined mode of cell dying, is a vital tenet of modern cancer therapy. In this review we focus on three aspects of apoptosis research which we believe are the most crucial and most exciting areas currently investigated and that will need to be better understood in order to enhance the efficacy of therapeutic measures. First, we discuss which target to select for cancer therapy and argue that not the cancer cell as such, but its interaction with the microenvironment is a more promising and genetically stable site of attack. Second, the complexity of combination therapy is elucidated using the PI3-K-mediated signaling network as a specific example. Here we show that the current clinical approach to sensitize malignancies to apoptosis by maximal, prolonged inhibition of so-called survival pathways can actually be counter productive. Third, we propose that under certain conditions which will need to be clearly defined in future, chronification of a tumor might be preferable to the attempt at a cure. Finally, we discuss further problems with utilizing apoptosis induction in cancer therapy and propose a novel potential therapeutic approach that combines the previously discussed features. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:57:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-86d7cf63bb844583bdf6696a1a898d76 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:57:49Z |
| publishDate | 2014-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-86d7cf63bb844583bdf6696a1a898d762022-12-22T03:41:25ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1422-00672014-03-011533746376710.3390/ijms15033746ijms15033746Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis ResearchMike-Andrew Westhoff0Oliver Brühl1Lisa Nonnenmacher2Georg Karpel-Massler3Klaus-Michael Debatin4Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm 89075, GermanyLaboratorio Analisi Sicilia Catania, Lentini (SR) 96016, ItalyDepartment of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm 89075, GermanyDepartment of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm 89081, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm 89075, GermanyThe induction of apoptosis, a highly regulated and clearly defined mode of cell dying, is a vital tenet of modern cancer therapy. In this review we focus on three aspects of apoptosis research which we believe are the most crucial and most exciting areas currently investigated and that will need to be better understood in order to enhance the efficacy of therapeutic measures. First, we discuss which target to select for cancer therapy and argue that not the cancer cell as such, but its interaction with the microenvironment is a more promising and genetically stable site of attack. Second, the complexity of combination therapy is elucidated using the PI3-K-mediated signaling network as a specific example. Here we show that the current clinical approach to sensitize malignancies to apoptosis by maximal, prolonged inhibition of so-called survival pathways can actually be counter productive. Third, we propose that under certain conditions which will need to be clearly defined in future, chronification of a tumor might be preferable to the attempt at a cure. Finally, we discuss further problems with utilizing apoptosis induction in cancer therapy and propose a novel potential therapeutic approach that combines the previously discussed features.http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/15/3/3746apoptosiscancer therapymicroenvironmentcombination therapychronification |
| spellingShingle | Mike-Andrew Westhoff Oliver Brühl Lisa Nonnenmacher Georg Karpel-Massler Klaus-Michael Debatin Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research International Journal of Molecular Sciences apoptosis cancer therapy microenvironment combination therapy chronification |
| title | Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research |
| title_full | Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research |
| title_fullStr | Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research |
| title_full_unstemmed | Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research |
| title_short | Killing Me Softly—Future Challenges in Apoptosis Research |
| title_sort | killing me softly future challenges in apoptosis research |
| topic | apoptosis cancer therapy microenvironment combination therapy chronification |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/15/3/3746 |
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