Three of the patients did not complete chemotherapy — one died after consent but prior to chemotherapy; one
died during chemotherapy because of an arterial occlusion; and one had a myocardial infarction prior to completion of the four courses of chemotherapy.
During the stress response that occurs as a cell becomes cancerous, and in response to
chemotherapy, p53 attempts to repair DNA damage that has occurred, and, if not successful, p53 orders the cell to
die.