Cell Cycle Arrest: An Impending Therapeutic Strategy to Curb Cancer

Eukaryotic cell division is divided into several phases and each of these phases has their own control mechanisms. Failure of any of these control mechanisms may lead to development of errors which may be propagated to up-coming generations leading to development of carcinogenic phenotype. Therefore, cell cycle has become an attractive target in anticancer research which is mainly focused on dealing with the regulators and checkpoints involved in the progression of cell cycle. The major components involved in controlling the cell cycle are cyclins, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs). Apart from these, an efficient DNA repair system and the proper assembly of spindle fibers also contribute to smooth progression of cell cycle. Therefore, in addition to the great dependency of anticancer research on cyclins, CDKs, and CDKIs, DNA repair system and assembly of spindle fiber also contribute to the foundation of anticancer research. In this chapter, we describe cell cycle and its importance in anticancer research, the clinical studies based on cell cycle to curb neoplastic development, and approaches used in anti-tumor research to counter cancer progression.