Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 12, Issue 7, 2006

Prostate cancer continues to be a significant public health concern throughout the world. It remains the most common male cancer after skin cancer and leads to the second most number of male cancer deaths behind lung cancer. Almost 85% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in the local or regional stages and the five-year relative survival rate for these men approaches 100%. Incidence rates over the last 30 years a Read More

The description of 5α-reductase deficiency in male pseudohermaphroditism, characterization of type-1 and type-2 isoenzymes of 5α-reductase, and development of 4-aza steroid competitive inhibitors of 5α-reductase were milestones in the development of 5α-reductase inhibitors, a class of drugs approved for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Stromal and epithelial hyperplasia in the region of Read More

Prostate cancer recurrence (after prior local treatment) that is detectable only by a rise in serum prostate specific antigen (PSA) level is a very common problem facing clinicians. Given that the majority of contemporary era men with PSA-only or biochemical recurrence are relatively young and otherwise healthy, treatment requires approaches that both improve clinical outcomes and preserve quality of life. Treatment is in o Read More

Ever since Huggins and Hodges won a Nobel Prize in 1966 for their work describing the relationship between testosterone and prostate cancer, androgen deprivation has continued to be an important component in the treatment of prostate cancer. Refinements in the therapy have occurred in the past 50 years, yet controversies still exist. This review details the controversies and advances in androgen deprivation for prostate Read More

The absence of curative therapies for advanced or recurrent forms of prostate cancer has prompted a vigorous search for novel treatment strategies. Immunotherapy encompasses one particularly promising systemic approach to treat prostate cancer. Immune-based strategies to treat prostate cancer have recently been facilitated by the identification of a number of prostate tissue/tumor antigens that can be targeted, Read More

Androgen deprivation in patients with metastatic prostate cancer produces palliation of symptoms, reduction in PSA levels, and temporary regression of tumor in most patients. Following a brief period of disease regression that lasts an average of eighteen to twenty-four months, the disease becomes hormone refractory and progresses. Second line hormonal manipulation includes anti-androgen withdrawal, glucocorti Read More

Each of the major participants in the human hemostatic system, such as platelets, coagulation, fibrinolysis and vessel wall, interact with and influence each other. At the start of development of thrombus formation, platelets adhere and aggregate at the site of vascular injury. The formed platelet plug is gradually consolidated and stabilized by fibrin network (coagulation). Finally, the sequence in the life cycle of a thrombus Read More

Circumstantial evidence has been provided of a role of the plasminogen/plasmin system in a variety of biological phenomena, including thrombolysis, vascular stenosis, reproduction, embryogenesis, cell invasion, angiogenesis, brain function and chronic lung or kidney inflammatory disorders. Inhibition of the system occurs either at the levels of plasminogen activator, regulated by specific plasminogen activator inhibi Read More

Since the activation of coagulation system and platelets triggers the thrombosis, the agents possessing anticoagulation or anti-platelet function have been used for the antithrombotic procession actions. However, in the physiological condition, the fibrinolytic system serves as antithrombotic, which removes the thrombus from the circulation. The fibrinolytic system plays an important role in the dissolution of fibrin, which is the Read More

Adenine nucleotides, ADP and ATP, are coreleased from dense granules during platelet activation, as well as from endothelial cells and damaged red blood cells following vascular injury. Through autocrine and paracrine mechanisms, these extracellular signaling molecules interact with the platelet P2 receptors to amplify ongoing platelet activation. Two receptors for ADP, the Gq-protein-coupled P2Y1 and Gi-protein-coupled Read More

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized by accumulation of lipids and fibrous elements in the innermost layer of the arterial wall. An asymptomatic atherosclerotic plaque is characterized by a lipid core, composed of modified lipids, macrophages and T cells, which were separated from the lumen vessel by a thick fibrous cap, composed of vascular smooth muscle cell-secreted solid collagen matrix. Recently, it has b Read More

Some low molecular mass heat shock proteins (HSPs) appear to act as molecular chaperones, but their exact physiological roles have not been fully elucidated. We reported on a physiological role of HSP20, HSP27 and αBcrystallin on platelet function in vitro and ex vivo. HSP20 and αB-crystallin inhibited platelet aggregation using human platelets dose-dependently induced by thrombin or botrocetin. On the other hand, Read More