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Apoptosis In Vivo

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Tumor Models in Cancer Research

Part of the book series: Cancer Drug Discovery and Development ((CDD&D))

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Abstract

Apoptosis is a complex and highly regulated process with numerous and varied biological consequences, it is typically described as a sequence of morphological events that can be easily recognized histologically. In fact, the initial identification and subsequent characterization of apoptosis were based on microscopic observations of its occurrence in vivo. In the early 1970’s, an experimental pathologist recognized variations in the morphology of dead cells. He deduced from these observations that the mechanisms for cell death could likewise differ. This Australian pathologist, Professor John Kerr, made these seminal observations and with his colleagues also devised the name apoptosis to distinguish the process from necrosis. Kerr’s sound morphological observations and interpretations based on those observations are the foundations for the explosion of apoptosis research that has occurred since his original observations. As will be detailed in this chapter, apoptosis can be quantified as a response of normal and tumor tissues to various cancer therapies in specimens from animals and patients treated in vivo.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by grant PO1 CA06294 from the National Cancer Institute, the Wiegand Foundation, the Gilbert H. Fletcher Chair (KKA), the Kathryn O’Connor Research Professorship (REM), and the United Energy Resources Professorship in Cancer Research (LM).

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  1. Department of Experimental Radiation Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 66, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    R. E. Meyn

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  1. L. C. Stephens
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  2. L. Milas
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  3. K. K. Ang
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Correspondence to R. E. Meyn .

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    Beverly A. Teicher

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Stephens, L.C., Milas, L., Ang, K.K., Mason, K.A., Meyn, R.E. (2011). Apoptosis In Vivo. In: Teicher, B. (eds) Tumor Models in Cancer Research. Cancer Drug Discovery and Development. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-968-0_25

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