RADIORESISTANCE, CHEMORESISTANCE, AND APOPTOSIS RESISTANCE - THE PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

Radioresistance has been considered one of the primary reasons for the rapeutic failure in radiation therapy. Although a wide variety of canc er therapy resistance mechanisms exist, a surprising number overlap as concomitant causes of radiation and chemotherapy resistance. Because most chemotherapeutics and gamma-radiation kill cancer cells by apopto sis (programmed cell death), this mechanism of cell death and its mach inery and regulators are important factors to understand in order to i ncrease therapeutic gain. This article discusses past, present, and fu ture aspects of cancer therapy resistance, from bench research and cli nical perspectives.