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Programmed Cell Death, from a Cancer Perspective: An Overview

Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy volume 22, pages 281–295 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Programmed cell death (PCD) is probably the most widely discussed subject among the topics of cancer therapy. Over the last 2 decades an astonishing boost in our perception of cell death has been seen, and its role in cancer and cancer therapy has been thoroughly investigated. A number of discoveries have clarified the molecular mechanism of PCD, thus expounding the link between PCD and therapeutic tools. Even though PCD is assumed to play a major role in anticancer therapy, the clinical relevance of its induction remains uncertain. Since PCD involves multiple death programs including programmed necrosis and autophagic cell death, it has contributed to our better understanding of cancer pathogenesis and therapeutics. In this review, we discuss a brief outline of PCD types as well as their role in cancer therapeutics. Since irregularities in the cell death process are frequently found in various cancers, key proteins governing cell death type could be used as therapeutic targets for a wide range of cancer.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, H. N. B. Garhwal (A Central) University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    Abhay P. Mishra

  2. Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Bahare Salehi

  3. Department of Medical Parasitology, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, 61663335, Iran

    Mehdi Sharifi-Rad

  4. OU Endocrinology, Dept. Medicine (DIMED), University of Padova, via Ospedale 105, 35128, Padua, Italy

    Raffaele Pezzani

  5. AIROB, Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca Oncologica di Base, Padua, Italy

    Raffaele Pezzani

  6. Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Farzad Kobarfard & Javad Sharifi-Rad

  7. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Farzad Kobarfard

  8. Department of Chemistry, Richardson College for the Environmental Science Complex, The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Javad Sharifi-Rad

  9. Department of Biochemistry, H. N. B. Garhwal (A Central) University, Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, 246174, India

    Manisha Nigam

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  6. Javad Sharifi-Rad
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  7. Manisha Nigam
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Correspondence to Javad Sharifi-Rad or Manisha Nigam.

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Abhay P. Mishra, Bahare Salehi, Mehdi Sharifi-Rad, Raffaele Pezzani, Farzad Kobarfard, Javad Sharifi-Rad and Manisha Nigam declare no conflict of interest.

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Mishra, A.P., Salehi, B., Sharifi-Rad, M. et al. Programmed Cell Death, from a Cancer Perspective: An Overview. Mol Diagn Ther 22, 281–295 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40291-018-0329-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40291-018-0329-9