Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 16, Issue 11, 2010

Breast cancer is prone to metastasize to bone: around 70-80% of patients with advanced disease exhibit bone metastases. Once metastatic cells are in the bone marrow, they do not, on their own, destroy bone. Instead, they alter the functions of bone-resorbing (osteoclasts) and bone-forming (osteoblasts) cells [1]. For example, breast cancer cells secrete many factors that stimulate the activity of osteoclasts [interleukins IL-6, I Read More

Accelerated bone loss is a common clinical feature of advanced breast cancer, and anti-resorptive bisphosphonates are the current standard therapy used to reduce the number and frequency of skeletal-related complications experienced by patients. Bisphosphonates are potent inhibitors of bone resorption, acting by inducing osteoclast apoptosis and thereby preventing the development of cancer-induced bone lesions. In Read More

Cancers which damage the human skeleton include multiple myeloma, where the primary tumour colonises bone directly, or breast and prostate cancer, where malignant cells travel from the primary tumour to form clonal outgrowths within the bone. Owing to the interaction of tumour cells with those normally found in the bone microenvironment, such as osteoclasts and osteoblasts, these cancers affect the closely linked pr Read More

Chemokines and chemokine receptors play diverse roles in homeostasis. The chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) and its receptor CXCR4 have critical functions in the immune, circulatory, and central nervous systems and have also been implicated in tumor biology and metastasis. Here we review the current data regarding the role of the CXCR4/SDF-1 chemokine axis in the development of bone metast Read More

Breast and prostate cancer are osteotropic cancers, i.e., carcinomas that have a special predilection to form bone metastases. At postmortem examination, ∼70% of patients dying of these cancers have evidence of metastatic bone disease. Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) were first identified by their ability to induce ectopic bone formation in vivo. Since prostate cancer cells express several BMPs, BMPs have been im Read More

Breast and prostate cancer frequently metastasizes to the skeleton and causes bone destruction. In skeletal tissue, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a major bone-derived factor responsible for driving a feed-forward vicious cycle of breast cancer growth in bone. TGF-β is released from bone in active form by osteoclastic resorption and increases the tumor secretion of factors, which stimulate osteolytic destruction of the Read More

Alcohol dependence is a major disease burden of adults in modern society worldwide. There is no cure for alcohol dependence. In this study, we have examined the molecular targets of ethanol-induced toxicity in humans based on a systematic review of literature data and then discussed current and potential therapeutic targets for alcohol abuse and dependence. Using human samples with ethanol exposure, microarray a Read More