As a public service, I will relate to the group that this new, mysterious word that has popped up on Halloween, namely "oncosis," is just the familiar necrosis wearing a mask. The title "The pathways of cell death: oncosis, apoptosis, and necrosis" is misleading because oncosis=necrosis, as necrosis has long been understood and defined by people in the know. The persons who came up with "oncosis" apparently thought the term "necrosis" is too confusing because people couldn't distinguish this pathway of accidental cell death from "secondary necrosis" as a downstream stage of programmed cell death (i.e.,apoptosis) unless there are two distinct words used. I came to this conclusion by doing a literature search and reading all of the abstracts containing the word "oncosis." I guess some people like to make up words, even though, in this case, it is unnecessary and causes confusion, rather than alleviates it. Kevin G. Waddick, Ph.D. Staff Scientist Hughes Institute 2685 Patton Road Roseville, Minnesota 55113 (612) 628-0228 ext.209 (612) 628-9891 Fax
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