Main description:

This volume gives the latest developments in on the mechanisms of cancer cell resistance to apoptotic stimuli, which eventually result in cancer progression and metastasis. One of the main challenges in cancer research is to develop new therapies to combat resistant tumors. The development of new effective therapies will be dependent on delineating the biochemical, molecular, and genetic mechanisms that regulate tumor cell resistance to cytotoxic drug-induced apoptosis. These mechanisms should reveal gene products that directly regulate resistance in order to develop new drugs that target these resistance factors and such new drugs may either be selective or common to various cancers. If successful, new drugs may not be toxic and may be used effectively in combination with subtoxic conventional drugs to achieve synergy and to reverse tumor cell resistance. The research developments presented in this book can be translated to produce better clinical responses to resistant tumors.

Contents:

Part I. Mechanism of tumor cell resistance to cytotoxic apoptosis drugs: Innate versus induced
1. Molecular pathway of apoptosis
2. Molecular anti-apoptotic pathways in cancer
3. Genetic mechanisms that regulate resistance
4. Oncogenesis and tumor cell resistance
5. Molecular heterogeneity of various cancers and cancer stem cells in resistance
6. Molecular signature profiles of resistance in cancers
Part II. Dominant pathways and gene products that regulate resistance
7. Resistant targets for apoptosis
8. Autocrine and Paracrine factors
9. Oncogenes
10.Tumor micro environment
Part III. Selective agents that target resistant mechanisms: Direct and indirect
11. Proteasome inhibitors
12. Chemicals: free and encapsulated in nanoparticles
13. Receptor agonists and antagonists
14. Antibodies