The response of cancer cells to anti-mitotic drugs

In 2007 over 12 million people were diagnosed with cancer. At least one third of these individuals are not expected to survive the disease, making cancer the second most prevalent cause of death worldwide. Systemic chemotherapy forms the mainstay of cancer treatment. In particular, this thesis focuses on antimitotic drugs, which are now common chemotherapeutic agents used to treat a wide variety of cancers. These compounds have seen success in the clinic, however, patient response remains highly unpredictable and resistance to treatment is commonplace. Anti-mitotic drugs such as taxol and the vinca alkaloids are thought to inhibit tumour proliferation by disrupting formation of the mitotic spindle, preventing normal Prolonged mitotic arrest due to chronic activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint (5AC). It is presumed that this prolonged arrest leads to cell death, however, the molecular links between mitotic arrest and cell death are ill-defined.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo