MYC and neoplasm: Both cyclin E and c-Myc contribute to the transition of cells from G1 to S phase (Wang et al, 2008; Malumbres and Barbacid, 2009) and have recently been implicated in promotion of caspase-dependent apoptosis subsequent to S-phase arrest induced by DNA damage or inhibition of DNA synthesis in tumour cells (Mazumder et al, 2000; Leonce et al, 2001; Lu et al, 2009; Sankar et al, 2009).