Walensky profiled the apoptotic pathway and the balance between cell survival and cell death.

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But they have now discovered that by adding thiazovivin, a small molecule involved in cell survival, they doubled that to get 200 times the number of transformed cells.

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But when the protein was attached to the mRNA for the Cox-2 enzyme, cancer cells could no longer make Cox-2, and they died, suggesting it plays a key role in tumour cell survival or death.

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Last April, Tarceva, promoted with OSI Pharmaceuticals (nasdaq: OSIP - news - people ), extended survival in non-small-cell lung cancer patients.

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It seems to be particularly important for the growth and survival of some cancer cells and large amounts of the molecule are often present in the cells of non-small cell lung cancers, sometimes in a mutated, over-active form.

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