Current Drug Targets - Volume 11, Issue 7, 2010

As a group, hematological malignancies represent the fourth most common cancer accounting for a little less than 10% of all cancer diagnoses. Overall outcomes for patients with hematological malignancies have improved as a result of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, however the heterogeneous nature of the biological characteristics of hematological malignancies necessitates a diverse range of treatments strateg Read More

Programmed cell death, commonly associated with the term apoptosis, is an integrated intracellular program that plays a critical role in lymphoid tissue homeostasis. Alterations in this highly regulated process is a common feature of most lymphoid malignancies, thus facilitating tumor escape from traditional chemotherapeutic agents whose main endpoint is the induction of tumor cell death. In the last years, enormous progres Read More

FMS-Like-Tyrosine kinase-3 (FLT3) mutations are found in about 30% of cases of acute myeloid leukemia and confer an increased relapse rate and reduced overall survival. Targeting this tyrosine kinase by direction inhibition is the focus of both preclinical and clinical research in AML. Several molecules in clinical development inhibit FLT3, but thus far clinical responses have been limited. Correlative studies from monotherapy tr Read More

The development of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has revolutionized the treatment of cancer along the last ten years. The best examples of their therapeutic efficacies have been obtained with rituximab for the treatment of CD20+ B-cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma (B-NHL), and several others antibodies with optimized bioactivities are now being developed for the treatment of various malignant hemopathies. Read More

MicroRNAs (miRNA) are small non-coding RNAs of ∼22 nucleotides that regulate the translation and stability of mRNA to control different functions of the cell. Misexpression of miRNA has been linked to disruption of normal cellular functions, which results in various disorders including cancers such as leukemias. MicroRNA involvement in disease has been the subject of much attention and is increasing our current understandin Read More

Hematologic malignancies account for a substantial percentage of cancers worldwide, and the heterogeneity and biological characteristics of leukemias and lymphomas present unique therapeutic challenges. Although treatment options exist for most of these diseases, many types remain incurable and the emergence of drug resistance is pervasive. Thus, novel treatment approaches are essential to improve outcome. Nea Read More

The classical role of p38MAPK involves the transmission of death signals from stress stimuli such as ionizing radiation, inflammation and chemotherapy in normal and malignant cells. However emerging evidence points to having pleiotropic functions, ranging from cellular proliferation and survival, to cell cycle arrest and regulation of the tumor microenviroment. The mechanisms responsible for these diverse and rathe Read More

Carcinoma of the biliary tree are rare tumors of the gastrointestinal tract with worldwide rising incidence for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma during the last years. Although complete surgical resection is the only curative approach, this can be accomplished in a minority of patients, since most of them present with advanced disease. In addition, those patients who have undergone complete surgical resection experience a Read More

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligands are frequently expressed in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) erlotinib and gefitinib have shown clinical activity in NSCLC. However, only a small subgroup of NSCLC patients respond to these agents, suggesting that patients' selection is critical for EGFR TKIs sensitivity. In this regard, several studies have tried to individuat Read More

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of malignancy-related mortality world-wide, in both men and women, with over a million cases diagnosed yearly. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for more than 80% of all lung cancers, and most patients are diagnosed with advanced disease. Although substantial progress has been made in the therapeutic options currently available for patients with advanced NSCLC, Read More

Accelerated atherosclerosis is the leading cause of coronary heart disease and stroke, which could account for high mortality rates in patients with diabetes. Although several hyperglycemia-elicited metabolic and hemodynamic derangements have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in diabetes, the process of formation and accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and th Read More

Evidence from experimental and genetic studies suggest the existence of a potential link between the leukotrienes (LT) signalling cascade, and the pathogenesis/progression of atherosclerosis and its serious consequences such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI), stroke, aortic aneurysms, and intimal hyperplasia. LT biosynthetic enzymes are expressed within atherosclerotic lesion, leading to production of cysteinyl-leukotrienes ( Read More

Losing one of our main sensory systems such as hearing can have devastating consequences in the way we interact with the world. The main problem lies in the fact that the critical sensory cells, the auditory neurons and hair cells located in the cochlea are only generated during development and, when damaged, cannot be replaced. The options currently available to treat this condition are very limited, and are Read More