Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • In the News
  • Published:

Too much cotton wool?

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 10, page 598 (2010)Cite this article

Subjects

Protection is a natural instinct and the loss of damaged cells, which undergo apoptosis to protect long-lived organisms from the development of diseases such as cancer, is often used as an example of this. However, two papers published in Genes and Development suggest that too many cells 'falling on their swords' can also lead to cancer.

Exposure to high levels of radiation can induce tumours through the induction of DNA damage. Under these conditions, the tumour suppressor p53 is activated to ensure the death of cells with damaged DNA. “Until now everyone believed that a failure of damaged cells to undergo suicide allowed mutated cells to proliferate ... we discovered that in certain settings ... the body's natural cell suicide programme can fuel tumour development.”, stated Andreas Strasser, a lead author on one of the papers that shows that in mice lacking PUMA, an essential protein downstream of p53, radiation-induced thymic lymphoma does not occur. ( TopNews , 3 Aug 2010).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Authors
  1. Nicola McCarthy
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCarthy, N. Too much cotton wool?. Nat Rev Cancer 10, 598 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2929

Download citation

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc2929

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Cancer

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Cancer newsletter — what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get what matters in cancer research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Cancer