This thesis examined exploitation of cell death to combat cancer from two angles: investigating cell death signalling pathways to find new targets for treatment, and using the novel anti-austerity approach to combat the tolerance of cancer cells to nutrient deprivation. Cancers often display high levels of genetic diversity, even within cancers of a particular organ. These genetic differences often make treatments which work with a particular cancer ineffective on another - even from the same origin, and lead to differences in outcomes to selective pressures such as nutrient deprivation. Current treatments are aimed at killing rapidly proliferating cells and often have severe side effects. Their efficacy is highly dependent on early diagnosis and many cancers are resistant to chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition, cancer cells on the inside of tumours have the ability to survive under adverse conditions such as nutrient deprivation due to intermittent blood supply, Therefore, alternative treatment strategies must be explored. Defects in cell death play a large contributing factor to cancer progression and tumour growth and the evasion of cell death by cancers presents a major problem in its treatment Conventional cancer treatment relies on the activation of cell death in fast growing cancer cells while attempting to leave normal cells undamaged. Therefore, selective triggering of cell death in a cancer cell would be extremely useful. In order to achieve this goal a thorough understanding of the cell death response of a particular cell type to a particular stimulus must be known. Moreover, any novel or unusual cell death signalling pathways would provide more opportunities and targets for attempting to trigger selective cell death in cancers.