Mitotic catastrophe and cancer drug resistance: A link that must to be broken

An increased tendency of genomic alterations during the life cycle of cells leads to genomic instability, which is a major driving force for tumorigenesis. A considerable fraction of tumor cells are tetraploid or aneuploid, which renders them intrinsically susceptible to mitotic aberrations, and hence, are particularly sensitive to the induction of mitotic catastrophe. Resistance to cell death is also closely linked to genomic instability, as it enables malignant cells to expand even in a stressful environment.

Source: Drug Resistance Updates - November 12, 2015 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tatiana V. Denisenko, Irina V. Sorokina, Vladimir Gogvadze, Boris Zhivotovsky Source Type: research