Current Cancer Drug Targets - Volume 11, Issue 4, 2011

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a critical role in the regulation of the cardiovascular system, and the RAS is present in various local organ systems. A retrospective cohort study raised the possibility of protection against cancer by the use of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. It has been reported that angiotensin II (Ang-II) is implicated in the development or invasion of several kinds of cancer tissue. Read More

Lung cancer is a leading cause of death in both men and women, with over 1,000,000 new cases diagnosed worldwide annually and a 5-year survival rate of only 14%, a figure that has improved little in the past thirty years. This poor prognosis suggests a need for novel approaches for the treatment and prevention of lung cancer. The reninangiotensin system is an established, primary regulator of blood pressure, homeosta Read More

Recent studies have shown an activation of the local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in various tumor tissues, including the abundant generation of angiotensin II (Ang II) by angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and the upregulation of angiotensin II type 1 receptor (AT1R) expression. Thus, considerable attention has been paid not only to the role of the RAS in cancer progression, but also to the blockade of RAS as a new app Read More

Angiotensin II (Ang II), a main effector peptide of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), mediates a hormonal action in the maintenance of blood pressure and electrolyte levels, and thus fluid homeostasis. Ang II also mediates paracrine, autocrine and/or intracrine actions in the control of various specific functions of diverse tissue organs. In the pancreas, Ang II exerts a growth promoting, angiogenic influence via the medi Read More

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays an important role in the regulation of the cardiovascular system. In addition to RAS enzymes in plasma, the RAS is present in various local organ systems. Moreover, local expression of the RAS has been shown in various malignant cells. In 1990, an insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism in the ACE gene was discovered, accounting for half of the variance of the serum ACE enzyme lev Read More

Angiogenesis is a complex and critical process essential for supporting the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as well as hepatocarcinogenesis. Recent studies have revealed that renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in many types of cancer including HCC. Some studies have proven that suppression of angiotensin-II (AT-II) by a clinically used angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACE-I) signific Read More

Angiotensin II (Ang-II) plays a role not only as a vasoconstrictor in controlling blood pressure and electrolyte and fluid homeostasis, but also as a mitogenic factor through the Ang-II type-1 (AT1) receptor in cardiovascular cells. Since a low prevalence of cancer in hypertensive patients receiving angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors has been reported, the molecular mechanisms of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) Read More

Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, are at increased risk of developing colon cancer, confirming that chronic inflammation predisposes to development of tumors. Moreover, it appears that colon cancers that do not develop as a complication of inflammatory bowel disease are also driven by inflammation, because it has been shown that regular use of nonsteroida Read More

In addition to the currently available conventional therapeutic modalities i.e. chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery, there is a desperate need for more effective and less toxic therapies for head and neck malignancies. Chemotherapy alone shows high toxicity and a low survival rate. In some cases, malignant cells develop resistance to a particular drug and to combat this, a variety of approaches like intra-arterial therap Read More

This review attempts to provide a broad overview of the changes in the cellular redox environment in breast cancer cells. The regulatory power of the redox environment lies in its capacity to control the growth behavior, spread, and differentiation. Neoplastic cells adapt to a wide variety of environmental conditions, including persistent oxidative stress and genomic instability by shifting their redox environment to more reduc Read More

Kinases are enzymes that are involved in a wide-range of cellular targets such as cell proliferation, metabolism, survival and apoptosis. Aberrations in the activity of the kinases have been linked to many human diseases such as diabetes, inflammation and cancer. The discovery of more than 518 kinases encoded by the human genome has spurred the development of rapid screening techniques for potential drugs against these en Read More

Both the nonreceptor tyrosine kinase Src and the receptors for transforming growth factor (TGF)-β (TβRI, TβRII) play major roles during tumorigenesis by regulating cell growth, migration/invasion and metastasis. The common Src family kinase inhibitors PP2 and PP1 effectively block Src activity in vitro and in vivo, however, they may exert nonspecific effects on other kinases. In this study, we have evaluated PP2 and P Read More