Clinical Cancer Drugs - Volume 1, Issue 2, 2014

Metastasis is the main cause of death in cancer patients, and in spite of its significance, it is still incompletely understood. In order for cancer to be metastatic, it must undergo a sequence of events, termed as the metastatic cascade. The ability of cancer cells to migrate and invade surrounding tissue is a critical step in the metastasis and is often associated with the formation of specific cellular structures called invadopodia. Inva Read More

The nucleation of many breast cancer research projects is the choice of an appropriate model to be used, and a central question to be addressed. Often, a human breast cancer cell line is chosen, and a selection of assays is then employed to test new anti-cancer agents, or to study some aspect of the biology of the disease. Here, we provide a guide for the selection of preclinical models of breast cancer, focusing on com Read More

In the present review we report the preclinical development of paclitaxel-based combination treatment with antiangiogenic drugs and their translation into clinical practice. A particular attention is paid to the mechanisms by which an interaction between paclitaxel and antiangiogenic drugs may be advocated. In mid ‘90s, the discovery of the antiangiogenic properties of paclitaxel has widened the possible uses of the d Read More

Low-dose metronomic (LDM) chemotherapy was developed to overcome resistance to standard, maximum tolerated dose (MTD) chemotherapy by shifting the primary treatment target from the highly adaptive tumor cells to diploid endothelial cells. As such, LDM chemotherapy exerts potent antiangiogenic effects. However, it became rapidly apparent that LDM chemotherapy is subject to resistance on its own, albeit by distinc Read More

Recent studies have shown that certain genetically modified tumour cells are extremely sensitive to the effects of PARP-1 inhibition without the need for the presence of a cytotoxic agent leading to selective cell death. For example BRCA1 and BRCA2, which are components of the homologous recombination DNA repair pathway, are deleted in 5- 10% breast cancer patients and have showed that PARP-1 inhibitors a Read More