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Drug Resistance pp 345–356Cite as

Apoptosis and Cancer Chemotherapy

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Part of the book series: Cancer Treatment and Research ((CTAR,volume 87))

Abstract

For many years oncologists have focused on the proliferative capacity of tumors as an indication of their aggressiveness. Mitotic index and S-phase fraction are routinely reported in some tumors and have been used to guide treatment in some instances. It is only recently than we have come to appreciate that the net growth of a tumor is directly related to both its proliferative capacity as well as the rate of programmed cell death, termed apoptosis. Although first described in 1972 [1] and viewed largely as a distinctive form of cell death occurring during development and normal tissue turnover [2], apoptosis occurs spontaneously in tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo, and apoptosis can be induced in cancer cells by such diverse stimuli as DNA damage and growth factor withdrawl. As is discussed in this chapter, there appears to be a heavy selection pressure for genetic changes that inhibit apoptosis in cancer cells, and inhibition of apoptosis may represent a new form of drug resistance in cancer treatment.

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Authors
  1. Stuart G. Lutzker
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  2. Arnold J. Levine
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 679 Hoes Lane, Room 242, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    William N. Hait M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 679 Hoes Lane, Room 242, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    William N. Hait M.D., Ph.D.

  3. Department of Pharmacology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 679 Hoes Lane, Room 242, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    William N. Hait M.D., Ph.D.

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© 1996 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Lutzker, S.G., Levine, A.J. (1996). Apoptosis and Cancer Chemotherapy. In: Hait, W.N. (eds) Drug Resistance. Cancer Treatment and Research, vol 87. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1267-3_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-1267-3_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8540-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-1267-3

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