One of the hallmarks of human cancers is the intrinsic or acquired resistance to apoptosis. Evasion of apoptosis may contribute to carcinogenesis, tumor progression and also to treatment resistance, since most current anticancer therapies including chemotherapy, radio- and immunotherapy primarily act by activating cell death pathways including apoptosis in cancer cells. Hence, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying tumor resistance to apoptotic cell death is expected to provide the basis for a rational approach to develop molecular targeted therapies.
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