Cancer Cell "Bodyguard" Turned into Killer

piggy submitted, created time 1 month 6 days (www.sciencedaily.com)

If you're a cancer cell, you want a protein called Bcl-2 on your side because it decides if you live or die. It's usually a trusted bodyguard, protecting cancer cells from programmed death and allowing them to grow and form tumors. But sometimes it turns into their assassin.

Scientists knew it happened, but they didn't know how to actually cause such a betrayal. Now they do. And it may lead to the development of new cancer-fighting drugs.

Researchers at Oregon State University and the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif

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