Recent advances in the field of cancer biology have helped to address the challenges of existing cancer therapies and pave the way for new classes of therapeutic agents that target cellular pathways involved in the formation, progression and death of tumour cells.

Numerous cancer therapies depend on the tumour cells’ ability to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell death). However, tumour cells typically develop a series of mutations that can lead to uncontrolled proliferation and also enable them to evade apoptotic death. Dysregulation of the apoptotic pathways is a major contributor to cancer development and progression, and plays a significant role in cancer resistance to chemotherapies, targeted therapies and radiation. Even if tumours initially respond to these therapies, they often acquire ......