Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology - Volume 7, Issue 6, 2006

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant proliferation of plasma cells and plasmacytoid cells in the bone marrow which is characterized nearly always by the presence in the serum and/or urine of a monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) or Ig fragment. MM is the second most common hematologic malignancy, accounting for 15,270 new cancer cases in the United States in the year 2004, and approximately 2% of cancer-related dea Read More

Currently, Arsenic Trioxide (ATO) is considered the treatment of choice for patients with relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Recently, a durable remission with minimal toxicity by single agent ATO or ATO + ATRA in newly diagnosed APL was reported by different groups. These regimens have minimal toxicity and can be administered on an outpatient basis after remission induction, thus they could become a real Read More

Multiple myeloma (MM) is an incurable malignancy of terminally differentiated B-cells accounting for approximately 1 to 2% of all human cancers. The development of MM is believed to be a multistep transformation process that leads to progressive accumulation of genetic alterations. The interaction between MM and bone marrow (BM) microenviroment triggers multiple proliferative and antiapoptotic signaling pathways. H Read More

Thalidomide and the analogues lenalidomide (CC-5013, Revlimid®) and CC-4047 (Actimid®) belong to the family of immunomodulatory drugs (IMiDs). These agents have anti-angiogenic properties, modulate TNFα and IL-12 secretion, co-stimulate T cells, increase NK cell toxicity and have direct anti-tumour effects. These characteristics have made of them promising drugs for treatment of relapsed, refractory and newly di Read More

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy characterized by the high capacity to induce osteolytic bone lesions. Bone destruction in MM mainly depends on the increase of osteoclast formation and activity that occurs in close contact with myeloma cells infiltration. The histomorphometric studies, performed in MM patients, have demonstrated that MM patients with high plasma cell infiltrate are also char Read More

Thalidomide (Thal) has antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory activity. Clinical research provided clear evidence that Thal is one of the most active drugs for the treatment of multiple myeloma leading to decrease of monoclonal protein of at least 50% in 30% of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. Randomized trials based on a large body of evidence from phase II trials determined that Thal significantly Read More

The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) is the major non-lysosomal proteolytic system in the cytosol and nucleus of all eukaryotic cells. Bortezomib (also known as PS-341 and Velcade™) is a proteasome inhibitor, a novel class of cancer therapies. Bortezomib blocks multi-ubiquitinated protein degradation by inhibiting 26S proteasome activity, including regulating cell cycle, anti-apoptosis, and inflammation, Read More

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a B-cell malignancy characterized by an accumulation of long-lived neoplastic plasma cells (PC) within the bone marrow (BM). Novel treatments are not only targeting myeloma cells but also directly interfere with myeloma-stromal cell interactions, interrupting signal transduction pathways. Farnesyltransferase inhibitors (FTIs) and rapamycin represent novel classes of signal transduction inhibitors targ Read More

This special issue of Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology deals with an exciting topic: &ldquoEssential Fatty Acids” and their implications for human health. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are the main constituent of the phospholipid component of all cell membranes in the human body. EFAs, as it name implies, are essential for human survival but cannot be synthesized by the human body and hence, have to be obtained in ou Read More

Studies showed that gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) and its derivatives have the potential to be anti-cancer molecules. In vitro, in vivo and limited clinical studies showed that GLA has selective tumoricidal action with little or no side effects. The mechanism of its action appears to be by inducing apoptosis of tumor cells by augmenting free radical generation only in the tumor cells but not normal cells. Intra-arterial injection of a lit Read More

Essential fatty acids (EFAs): cis-linoleic acid (LA) and -linolenic acid (ALA) are essential for humans and their deficiency is rare in humans due to their easy availability in diet. EFAs are metabolized to their respective long-chain metabolites: dihomo-gamma-linolenic acid (DGLA), and arachidonic acid (AA) from LA; and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from ALA. Some of these long-chain m Read More

The expression and activity of Fatty Acid Synthase (FASN; the sole enzyme capable of the reductive de novo synthesis of long-chain fatty acids from acetyl-CoA, malonyl-CoA, and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate - NADPH-) is extremely low in nearly all nonmalignant adult tissues, whereas it is significantly up-regulated or activated in many cancer types, thus creating the potential for a large therapeutic index. Since Read More

The final proof about the specific mechanisms by which the different components of olive oil, the principal source of fat in a typical &ldquoMediterranean diet&rdquo, exert their potential protective effects on the promotion and progression of several human cancers requires further investigations. A recent discovery that dietary fatty acids can interact with the human genome by regulating the amount and/or Read More

The global incidence of atopic eczema is escalating. While new treatment options are becoming available, previous treatments with certain confirmed benefits are still worth investigating as safe and effective therapies. One such treatment, Efamol® evening primrose oil (EPO), was proven efficacious in a 1989 meta-analysis of randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. A decade of further testing and Read More

The applications of 'omics' (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics) technologies in nutritional studies have opened new possibilities to understand the effects and the action of different diets both in healthy and diseased states and help to define personalized diets and to develop new drugs that revert or prevent the negative dietary effects. Several single nucleotide polymorphisms have already been in Read More

Inflammation plays an important role in health and disease. Most of the chronic diseases of modern society, including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, etc. have inflammatory component. At the same time, the link between diet and disease is also being recognized. Amongst dietary constituents, fat has gained most recognition in affecting health. Saturated and trans fatty acids have been Read More