Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 15, Issue 16, 2009

Inflammation and cancer are closely associated. Crosstalk between both disease processes starts at the level of carcinogenesis but is also implicated in tumor growth, progression and metastasis [1-4]. Although the inflammatory response can play a role in tumor suppression by stimulating an antitumor immune response, support of tumor development is more dominant. This makes a variety of anti-inflammatory Read More

Inflammation is considered a hallmark of cancer. The chronic inflammatory process is driven by the interaction of cells, proteins, cytokines, transcription factors, and lipid mediators within the tumor microenvironment giving rise to complex pro-inflammatory cascades. These can be inhibited by a variety of different anti-inflammatory compounds, like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, glucocorticoids, anti-inflam Read More

Acquisition of resistance to the cytotoxic effects of anticancer agents is one of the most significant impediments to effective cancer therapy. Although various cancer-cell intrinsic mechanisms of drug resistance have been identified, chemotherapy resistance remains one of the major causes of cancer patient death. Emerging evidence suggests that the inflammatory tumor-microenvironment plays an important additio Read More

Vascular system plays critical roles in tumor progression and metastasis. Tumor vessels generally sprout from preexisting vascular cells. In addition, pluripotent progenitor cells also participate in tumor neovascularization. The latter populations include endothelial progenitor cells, hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells that are stimulated and attracted into the lesion. Recent studies on tumor microenvironment ha Read More

A close interaction of cancer cells with their microenvironment is important for their growth and survival. In this respect, the involvement of inflammatory cells in the initiation, promotion and progression of cancer has pointed to new therapeutic opportunities in the treatment of cancer. The main immune cell types implicated in tumor-associated inflammation are macrophages, dendritic cells, lymphocytes, neutrophils, e Read More

Over the last years a number of reports have described elevated numbers of regulatory T (Treg) cells inside of tumors, in close proximity of the tumor, draining lymph nodes and also in peripheral blood of patients with solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. There is increasing evidence that Treg cells can migrate into tumors and suppress effective anti-tumor responses in the tumor microenvironment, thus contributing t Read More

Currently, the effect of AIDS single-target chemotherapy is severely compromised by the quick emergence of resistant HIV strains. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) combines HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors with protease inhibitors or integrase inhibitors, and successfully suppresses HIV viral load to an undetectable level, dramatically improving the life quality of AIDS patients. However, the benefits of this Read More

Advances in intensive care and antibiotics have prevented the spread of some infections, though sepsis mortality rates remain high. With failure of over thirty clinical trials, sepsis remains a scientific and clinical challenge in modern medicine. Sepsis is defined by the clinical signs of a systemic inflammatory response to infection. “Severe sepsis” is when these symptoms are associated with multiple organ dysfunction. These defi Read More