Many tumor cells have a defective cellular equipment. It is
only by a special trick that they manage to distribute their chromosomes
correctly to their daughter cells during cell division. Scientists of the
German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now
developed a substance that thwarts this trick and forces cancer cells into
death during cell division. The group has now reported their results in the
journal Cancer Research.
When normal cells divide, the chromosomes, i.e. the genetic
material, are distributed evenly to exactly two daughter cells.