New and more effective methods to treat AIDS associated cancers are badly needed. Recent evidence suggests that apoptosis is an important component of cancer therapy. The intrinsic killing power of drugs or radiation may be less important than the ability of these agents to stimulate tumor cells to kill themselves. Apoptosis may also be relevant to some aspects of drug resistance and may explain why tumor cells are more sensitive to cell killing than are normal cells. Exploitation of this concept of tumor cell death for the development of new and more effective therapies provides an exciting and potentially fruitful challenge.
Apoptosis is a topic of considerable research interest.
Numerous research projects have been undertaken to delineate the mechanisms and molecular factors that regulate the process. As a result of these efforts, an understanding of apoptosis encompassing a broad range of cellular mechanisms is emerging. The goal of this PA is the exploitation of these exciting advances in the understanding of the mechanism of apoptosis for discovery of modulators of the apoptotic process with the intent of developing new therapies for AIDS-related malignancies. Applications focused on exploitation of current knowledge of apoptosis for the discovery of agents that modulate the process are encouraged. Applications designed solely to understand the basic principles of apoptosis are not encouraged as part of this initiative.