Perhaps no malady affecting people in the industrialized world instills more fear than cancer, and most people realize that it involves an inappropriate increase in cell numbers. One in three Americans will have some form of cancer in his or her lifetime, and at present, one in four will die of it. With 1.5 million new cases and half a million deaths in the United States annually, cancer ranks second only to heart disease as a killer.
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Improperly controlled cell division and the ability to migrate are two characteristics that distinguish cancer cells from normal cells.
Cell cycle abnormalities play an important role in the development of cancer.
Cancer therapies are targeted to events in the cell cycle.