Current Cancer Drug Targets - Volume 8, Issue 8, 2008

Research into mTOR, mammalian Target Of Rapamycin as an important drug target continues to be extremely interesting, both in terms of the increased molecular knowledge being acquired at the basis of various human diseases, and also for possible applications in drug cancer therapy. The mTOR signaling system plays a key role in several transduction pathways that are necessary for cell cycle progression and cellular p Read More

Induction of immune responses against cancer-associated antigens is possible, but the optimal use of this strategy remains to be established and especially the combination of T cell therapy and the use of new targeted therapeutic agents should be investigated. The design of future clinical studies then has to consider several issues. Firstly, induction of anticancer T cell reactivity seems most effective in patients with low dise Read More

Drugs that target the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) pathways have revolutionized the treatment of patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (RCC). Patients with clear cell RCC often have mutations or silencing of the von Hippel Lindau gene leading to an accumulation of HIF 1 alpha. This allows growth factors such as VEGF and PDGF to be upregulated to promote angiog Read More

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a disease that afflicts teenagers and adolescents in the prime of their lives. In spite of surgery and therapies currently used, there is a 1/3 chance of relapse. As for other cancers, current research is largely devoted to elucidating the molecular basis of the disease, with the anticipation that such research will lead to discovery and development of biological therapies. The major advantage of utilising such ther Read More

Melatonin exerts oncostatic effects on different kinds of tumors, especially on hormone-dependent breast cancer. The general conclusion is that melatonin, in vivo, reduces the incidence and growth of chemically-induced mammary tumors in rodents, and, in vitro, inhibits the proliferation and invasiveness of human breast cancer cells. Both studies support the hypothesis that melatonin inhibits the growth of breast cancer by in Read More

Chemoprevention by dietary and pharmacological means provides a strategy for attenuating the health risks resulting from cigarette smoking and in particular from passive exposure to environmental cigarette smoke (ECS). We evaluated the ability of the glucocorticoid budesonide and of the natural agent phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) to affect DNA damage in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells of CD-1 mice exposed to EC Read More

Choline Kinase (ChoK) comprises a family of cytosolic enzymes involved in the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC), the most abundant phospholipid in eukaryotic cell membranes. One of the ChoK isoforms, Choline Kinase α (ChoKα), is found over expressed in human tumours. Chemical inhibitors able to interfere with ChoK activity have proven to be effective antitumoral drugs in vitro and in vivo. To validate the Read More

The A Disintegrin And Metalloprotease (ADAM) proteins belong to the metzincin-superfamily of Zndependent metalloproteinases that shed the extracellular domains of membrane-bound growth factors, cytokines and their receptors. The latter play a central role in cell signaling and contribute a potential target in cancer therapy. Of particular interest are the ErBB/HER family of growth factor receptors associated with Read More

The development of targeted therapies with true specificity for cancer relies upon exploiting differences between cancerous and normal cells. Genetic and genomic alterations including somatic mutations, translocations, and amplifications have served as recent examples of how such differences can be exploited as effective drug targets. Small molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies directed against the protein Read More

Neuronal cell specific cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (Cdk5) is a known regulator of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. We report that Cdk5 also plays an important role in the proliferation of breast cancer cells MCF-7 and MDA MB-231 and is functionally involved in chemosensitivity as well as in cell death pathways induced by anti-cancer drug carboplatin (Carb). Here, we demonstrate tha Read More

Purpose: Inhibition of COX-2 enzymes is a frequently suggested mechanism for the beneficial effects of NSAIDs on carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to explore the role of cumulative NSAID use on four common nonskin related cancers and modification by COX-2 G-765C genotype. Patients and methods: 7621 participants of The Rotterdam Study were included. In a mean follow up period of 10 years, 720 colorectal, l Read More

Due to an oversight on the part of the authors, Agelopoulos, K.; Buerger, H.; Brandt, B. The following acknowledgement section was unintentionally left out in the published review entitled “Allelic Imbalances of the egfr Gene as Key Events in Breast Cancer Progression - the Concept of Committed Progenitor Cells”, Current Cancer Drug Targets, August 2008, Vol. 8(5), pp. 431-445.