Exploding cancer cells in response to treatment

This is a time lapse video showing cancer cells response to a targeted treatment over 36 hours. The breast cancer cells in this video are showing signs of Autophagy, where they ingest themselves in order to survive when starved (or in this case perceive to be starved due to the drug treatment). As a result they become smaller and smaller over time until they are unable to recover and die. When damaged without repair, they undergo Apoptosis or programmed cell death which is evident in appearance of “exploding cells” as they commit suicide.