Enabling Replicative Immortality

Molecular aspects of cancer continue to be uncovered by researchers around the world. Theses aspects will need to be exploited in the next generation of cancer treatments. Specific tumor suppressor genes such as p53 can serve as novel therapeutic targets as well. Although the scientific understanding of the actual steps in tumorigenesis is rather muddled, the differences between cancer and normal cells can be exploited throughout the tumor development process and used in therapy to destroy as much of the tumor as possible. Finally, differences in cancer mortality by age group might provide some insight into the primary causes of pediatric and adult cancers.