Little Boxes

We tend to think about cancer targets as self contained little boxes. For instance, Genentech have an online page titled Disease Pathways and Cancer Exploration. Outlined are a number of links including;

Explore BCL-2 - investigate BCL-2 and its role in apoptosis.
Explore MDM2 - find out more about the MDM2-p53 pathway and its role in apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest.

After a small amount of research in relation to Myc it quickly becomes apparent that the little box approach is misguided at best. Two scientific papers in Oncogene outline the case;

Myc pathways provoking cell suicide and cancer published 2003 by Nilsson and Cleveland
Apoptotic signaling by c-MYC published 2008 by Hoffman and Liebermann

It would appear that Bcl-2, p53 and Myc should all be mentioned in the same sentence. Two headings from the first paper outline the case, firstly Myc compromises mitochondrial functions by targeting the Bcl-2 network and secondly Myc triggers the Arf-p53 tumor suppressor pathway. An interesting heading from the second paper is titled Cross talk between Myc and p53 in regulating cell survival and apoptosis.

I could also mention a third paper published in Perspectives in Medicine in 2014 titled Myc and the Control of Apoptosis by Steven McMahon. The following headings are of interest; Bcl-2 Activation as a Common Mechanism for Evading Myc Driven Apoptosis and Role of p53 in the Apoptotic Effects of Myc.


It would appear that the successful targeting of Myc could re-shape the pharmacological approach to cancer and become a powerful tool in combination therapy.