Recent Advances in Basic Science Apoptosis and Colorectal Cancer

Correspondence to: Professor A J M Watson, Department Medicine, University of Liverpool Medical School, Daulby St, Liverpool L69 3GA, UK; [email protected] _________________________ A poptosis, the morphologically defined form of programmed cell death, is a cellular process that is of tremendous current interest to clinicians who study and treat cancer. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of colorectal cancer and its management. Abnormalities in apoptotic function contribute to both the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer and its resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and radiotherapy, both of which act, at least in part, by killing cancer cells. In this article, current knowledge of the mechanisms of apoptosis and their place in the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer will be reviewed together with the progress that has been made in the development of therapies designed to target apoptosis.