Reed J C
La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation, Cancer Research Center, California, USA.
Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 1995 Apr;9(2):451-73.
Programmed cell death (also known as apoptosis) plays an essential role in tissue homeostasis, where it ensures that new cell production in the body is offset by a commensurate rate of cell loss. Defects in the genetic pathway that regulate the cell death process can figure prominently in the origins of cancer and also in problems with cancer treatment. Eventually, it may be possible to develop novel treatments for cancer that specifically seek to modulate the physiologic cell death pathway as opposed to nearly all currently available drugs, which are intended to interfere with some aspect of the cell division cycle.
程序性细胞死亡（也称为细胞凋亡）在组织稳态中起着至关重要的作用，它确保体内新细胞的产生与相应的细胞损失率相抵消。调节细胞死亡过程的遗传途径中的缺陷在癌症的起源以及癌症治疗问题中可能起着重要作用。最终，有可能开发出针对癌症的新型治疗方法，专门旨在调节生理性细胞死亡途径，这与几乎所有目前可用的药物相反，这些药物旨在干扰细胞分裂周期的某些方面。
