Apoptotic and Non-apoptotic Programmed Cell Death in Pathophysiology

The term necrosis has been widely used as the opposite concept of programmed cell death since necrosis has been traditionally thought to be an uncontrolled, accidental cell-death process. However accumulating evidences suggest that in some cases cell undergoes necrosis in a program m ed m ode by regulated signaling event. Necrosis is of importance in pathophysiology for its critical role in tumor promoting effect since excessive, chronic inflammatory responses are very closely associated with the promotion of tumor growth, angiogenesis, and invasion. Here we will discuss about the factors participating in the determination of programmed necrotic cell death, although the studies are still at the beginning step, to widen our understanding of cell death mode regulation.