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Theory to Practice. This article shows one avenue of attack using R-factors. This company has come up with a means of 'ungluing" cancer cells. We know from previous blog entries that when a cell becomes unglued or otherwise loses communication with its neighbours, it has two courses of action available: cell suicide (apoptosis) or recycling to an earlier stage of development. Cancer cells are already at a very early stage of development and hence may opt for apoptosis instead; this is what the biotech company is counting on--I think this is very promising.

The 'glues' spoken of in this article are a class of compounds called cadherins and I don't know at this point whether they are the R-factors that this blog talks about or whether they are a more generic substance that holds cells together after R-factors have established communicaiton. I think the latter is more likely but I have no conclusive evidence.
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