Current Drug Targets - Volume 13, Issue 6, 2012

Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal and poorly understood human malignancies and will continue to be a major unsolved health problem in the 21st century [1]. Despite efforts over the past three decades to improve diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer is extremely poor with or without treatment, incidence rates are virtually identical to mortality rates [2]. The majority Read More

Pancreatic cancer remains a formidable challenge for oncologists and patients alike. Despite intensive efforts, attempts at improving survival in the past 15 years, particularly in advanced disease, have failed. This is true even with the introduction of molecularly targeted agents, chosen on the basis of their action on pathways that were supposedly important in pancreatic cancer development and progression: indeed, with the n Read More

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (referred here as pancreatic cancer) is a lethal disease with the worst prognosis among all solid tumors. Surgical resection represents the only hope for cure but it is possible only in patients that present with local disease (about 20% of cases). Whether dismal prognosis of pancreatic cancer is a result of late diagnosis or early dissemination to distant organ is still a debate. Moreover, this disease Read More

The role of preoperative biliary drainage (PBD) in the management of jaundiced patients with resectable pancreatic cancer (RPC) is controversial. Obstructive jaundice determines hepatic dysfunction which can increase the operative risks. Experimental studies demonstrated that PBD could be associated with improved surgical outcomes. However, clinical studies did not confirm these findings. Initial clinical studies conducted wi Read More

Pancreatic cancer patients have an extremely poor survival prognosis, and surgical resection remains the only curative treatment. Greater experience in pancreatic surgery and developments in surgical techniques have reduced surgical mortality and morbidity rates. It has been suggested that experienced pancreaticoduodenectomy centers should have mortality rates of less than 5% and major complication rate Read More

Pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is the gold standard treatment for cancer of pancreatic head in all the cases that are supposed to be resectable. Although the overall survival depends on many heterogeneous factors, the main aim of the treatment must be to achieve a R0 resection with microscopically and macroscopically free margins. As in recent reports vascular involvement does not represent anymore a technical li Read More

For over 25 years, the standard of care for resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma has been upfront surgery followed by delivery of post-operative therapy. Until recently however, there has been no consensus as what constituted a standard adjuvant regimen. Data from large phase III studies now support single agent gemcitabine, administered over 6 cycles, as standard. Nevertheless, the overall survival of patients undergoin Read More

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a rare tumor with a very poor outcome. Even with surgery, 5-year overall survival is less than 10%, due to the propensity of the disease for local and systemic recurrence. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and systemic chemotherapy were assessed in prospective trials in order to improve disease control and patients’ prognosis. However, due to the difficulty of performing prospective tr Read More

The vast majority of patients with pancreatic cancer present with locally advanced unresectable or metastatic disease, and in this setting only a palliative treatment can be offered. Single-agent gemcitabine has been considered the standard chemotherapy for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer since the results of a pivotal phase III trial showing superior clinical benefit compared to bolus 5-fluorouracil were pub Read More

The prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer is extremely poor, and current systemic therapies provide marginal survival benefits for treated patients. The era of targeted therapies has offered a new avenue to search for potentially more effective strategies. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a member of the erbB/human epidermal growth factor receptor family of tyrosine kinases, which includes erbB2/HER Read More

Effective systemic treatment of pancreatic cancer remains a major challenge, with progress hampered by drug resistance and treatment related toxicities. Currently available cytotoxic agents as monotherapy or in combination have provided only a modest survival benefit for patients with advanced disease. Disappointing phase III results with gemcitabine-based combinations in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer mi Read More

Statins have been successfully used in patients with hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular diseases, but there is increasing evidence that they exert effects by much exceeding the lowering of cholesterol levels. Statins have antiatherosclerotic, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory and antithrombotic effects. These "pleiotropic" effects stem from their inhibition of prenylation of the small GTP-bin Read More

The adenosine pathway is a powerful evolutionarily selected mechanism aimed at a fine modulation of inflammatory responses and protection of tissues from injuries. Adenosine exerts its modulatory effects via interaction with G protein-coupled receptors, designated as A1, A2A, A2B and A3. In this regard, extracellular adenosine concentrations are critical in determining its ability of regulating several biological functions. The l Read More

Apixaban (BMS-562247-01) is a compound being investigated as an anticoagulant. Apixaban molecule is developed in a joint venture by Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Apixaban, a coagulation factor Xa inhibitor, approved in the E.U. in 2011 for the prevention of venous thromboembolic events in adult patients, who have undergone elective hip or knee replacement. The Apixaban based drug will be marketed under the brand na Read More