Apoptosis resistance in malignant tumors. Novel apoptosis-based therapeutic approaches

Numerous data indicate that defects in apoptotic signaling pathways contribute to the development of cancer and to therapy resistance in many types of malignant tumors. Defective apoptotic cell death is not only a significant cause of cancer, but also increases tumor resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. Therefore, there is an urgent need to elucidate the molecular basis of apoptosis resistance and to develop novel strategies to overcome this resistance. One important task is the identification of those anti-apoptotic proteins that render tumor cells resistant to therapy and to investigate how these resistance mechanisms can be regulated on a cellular and molecular level. Based on these findings, novel strategies to sensitize cancer cells to cell death induction can be developed. Moreover, the expression profiles of several apoptosis-regulating proteins can be used as prognostic factors in patients with diverse types of cancer. © Springer Medizin Verlag 2009.