Beyond genetics: surprising determinants of cell fate in antitumor drugs.

In this issue of Cancer Cell, Gascoigne and Taylor (2008) report their findings of following 10,000 single cells incubated with three classes of antimitotic drugs, including paclitaxel (taxol). This extensive analysis reveals a previously unappreciated complexity in response to such drugs and demonstrates that it is more than genetics that determines cell life or death.