Current Drug Targets - Volume 21, Issue 15, 2020

There is evidence that post-radical prostatectomy (post-RP) incontinence is not just the insufficiency of the external urethral sphincter mechanism. Up to a third of men with post-RP incontinence suffer from bladder dysfunction, namely overactive bladder (OAB). OAB is a complex symptom syndrome with poorly defined pathophysiology. It causes a significant burden to patients, negatively affects the quality of their life and it Read More

Intravesical Botox has become a widespread treatment for patients with refractory overactive bladder. Further to its acknowledged efficacy, both physicians and patients must be fully aware of possible complications, such as urinary tract infections, incomplete bladder emptying or even urinary retention and the possible need for intermittent self-catheterizations, fatigue, muscle weakness, transient hematuria and autonomic dys Read More

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to benign prostate obstruction (BPO) afflict a very large part of the population on a global scale. Urologists confront patients with a diversity of BPH-related symptoms in their daily practice. For years, the cornerstone of obstructive BPH treatment consisted of mostly medical and to a lesser extent surgical therapies. However, while medical treatment has come to a stand Read More

Between the end of 2005 and the beginning of 2006, several new target therapies have been introduced for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma. In this review, we aimed to explore and summarize the main findings of the use of systemic treatment and its effect on surgery in patients with renal cell carcinoma. We identified three different settings: neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings as well as the association of systemic ther Read More

The carcinogenesis of prostate cancer (PCa) results from a complex series of events. Chronic inflammation and infections are crucial in this context. Infiltrating M2 type macrophages, as well as neutrophils and T lymphocytes, contribute to PCa development, progression and response to therapy. The preliminary findings on the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with PCa were not encouraging. However, a series of stu Read More

Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa Korth., is a tropical plant prevalent in Southeast Asia, and it is utilized as a traditional remedy for symptomatic relief of various illnesses. It has been labeled as an atypical opioid with significant narcotic-like properties, capable of inducing kratom dependence among those who misuse or abuse it. The prevalence of kratom use has drastically increased worldwide, raising concerns among health Read More

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) has one of the worst prognosis and higher mortality among most cancers. The diagnosis of PDA is frequently delayed due to a lack of specific biomarkers, and the efficacy of current chemotherapeutic drugs is limited. Moreover, chemotherapy is generally applied in advanced stages, where metastatic spread has already occurred. Nanotechnologybased systems are allowing to ad Read More

Schizophrenia is a multifactorial, highly complex behavioral and cognitive disorder caused by disruptions of neurotransmitters in the brain, consequently affecting its functioning. The disorder is known to affect approximately 1% of the adult population worldwide. Antipsychotics used in the treatment have considerable drawbacks as they primarily aim to alleviate the positive symptoms of different aspects of the disorder Read More

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a remarkably aggressive thoracic malignancy with a limited survival of only 5-12 months. However, MPM still remains unresponsive to conventional standards of treatment, including pleurectomy and decortication, extrapleural pneumonectomy for resectable disease with or without chemotherapy, and/or radiation therapy. The mechanism of carcinogenesis has not been fully elucida Read More

Natural polymers, particularly polysaccharide, have been used as drug delivery systems for a variety of therapeutic agents such as peptides, proteins, vaccines, DNA, and drugs for parenteral and non-parenteral administration. Chitosan, the second most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharide after cellulose, is a biocompatible and biodegradable mucoadhesive polymer that is extensively used in the preparation Read More

Pathologies linked to the renin-angiotensin system are frequent, and the drugs used in them are numerous and show great variability in therapeutic effects and adverse reactions. Genetic variants have been detected in the angiotensinogen gene (6), angiotensin-converting enzyme (9), angiotensinconverting enzyme 2 (1), and angiotensin receptor Type 1 (4) among others. However, the large number of studies that have Read More