Focusing on 'Genomic Instability'

Is it the chicken or the egg? "Genomic instability" is associated with the formation of cancer, but whether the instability drives tumor progression or is driven by it, is still unclear, says Nature Reviews Cancer. New findings show that certain DNA repair pathways and processes that control cell cycles all affect genomic stability and the development of cancer. Researchers are actively trying to manipulate these pathways and processes to see if they can induce tumor cell death, or target them with chemotherapeutic agents and other treatments, the journal adds. Nature Reviews Cancer has an ongoing series of studies on this topic that look into the field and examine the questions researchers are trying to answer and the progress they've made.