News Life Disabling cellular assassin prevents cancer Counterintuitive experiment may help explain why survivors are more vulnerable to other malignancies By Tina Hesman Saey July 31, 2010 at 4:45 pm - More than 2 years ago Share this:Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Being overly protective can backfire. That’s a lesson that many parents have learned and cancer biologists are beginning to recognize. Killing off damaged cells is supposed to help protect against cancer, but two new studies show that a massive die-off can lead to the disease instead.