Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry (Formerly Current Medicinal Chemistry - Anti-Cancer Agents) - Volume 11, Issue 5, 2011

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is still one of the most malignant tumor diseases exhibiting an unfavorable prognosis. It is well known for its late presentation, the aggressive progression and metastatic spread, along with its poor outcome [1, 2]. In Western countries, PDAC is the fourth leading cause of cancer related death with an overall 5-year survival rate less than 1 % and most patients dying within one year [3]. The Read More

Introduction: This review provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms and pathways known to enhance development and progression of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Results: Today, the concept that progression of epithelial precursor lesions leads to invasive PDAC as a result of accumulating mutation in K-ras, p16INK4A, p53 and Smad4 is widely accepted. Multiple signaling pathways that PDAC utilizes to Read More

Treatment of pancreatic cancer should be a relatively simple clinical problem, all that is needed is to find the features of pancreatic cancer cells that distinguish them from normal cells and target these differences. This is the basis of current therapies including gemcitabine and 5-FU which target DNA synthesis. Unfortunately, cancer cells become resistant to these therapies: By exclusion of drugs from cancer cells; by chang Read More

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) leads via its receptor IGF-1R to the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway, providing antiapoptotic signals to pre-malignant and malignant cells. In pancreatic cancer, IGF-1 and its receptor are constitutively overexpressed. Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is the main mediator of mitogenic stimuli transduced by PI3K/Akt. Interestingly, inhibition of mTOR activates PI3K/Akt by up-reg Read More

There is an unquestionable need for more effective therapies for pancreatic cancer. Aptamers are single-stranded DNA or RNA oligonucleotide ligands whose 3-dimensional structures are dictated by their sequences. Aptamers have been generated against numerous purified protein targets using an iterative in vitro selection technique known as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX). Several bioc Read More

The Neuropilin receptors are increasingly recognized as receptors for vascular endothelial growth factors like VEGF-A and VEGF-C as well as other important growth factors like HGF and FGF in human vasculature and in tumor cells. More and more studies show an important role of Neuropilin in cancer biology suggesting that these transmembrane proteins might be an emerging target for new therapies in different subsets of ca Read More

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a biological process that allows well-differentiated, polarized epithelial cells to undergo a conversion to motile, unpolarized mesenchymal cells. EMT plays crucial roles during implantation, embryogenesis, and organ development (Type 1 EMT), is associated with tissue regeneration and organ fibrosis (Type 2 EMT), and involved in cancer invasion, metastasis, and drug resistance (Ty Read More

Pancreatic cancer has one of the poorest prognoses among all cancers partly because of its silent nature and tendency for late discovery but also because of its persistent resistance to chemotherapy. At present there are very limited treatment alternatives for pancreatic cancer, hence the need to develop novel and more efficient drugs. It is well known that mutations in K-Ras oncogene accumulate early in the disease progr Read More

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer related death in the United States, with a 5-year survival of less than five percent. Since the majority of patients have locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, there has been little progress made to extend survival. For over ten years, chemotherapy with gemcitabine has been standard treatment for those patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, p Read More

Obesity, now a worldwide epidemic, causes myriad medical problems. One of the most significant obesity-related problems is the well-recognized relationship between obesity and various malignancies, including pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease - the annual death rate nearly approximates its incidence. While surgical extirpation provides the best chance at long term survival, systemic therapy is lar Read More

Resveratrol, a well-know natural product and a major component in grape, has attracted considerable attention as one of the most promising cancer during the past decade. Many studies have established that resveratrol can exert a broad range of biological activities including ceramide-mediated proapoptotic, antineoplastic, apoptosis-inducing, etc. Most important, resveratrol has been identified as an effective candidate Read More