Current Pharmaceutical Design - Volume 8, Issue 19, 2002

This review describes gene therapy strategies that take advantage of defective signal transduction pathways to selectively kill cancer cells without adversely affecting normal cells. The distinctive features of cancer cells currently exploited by gene therapy include mitosis, cell permissiveness to infection, specific protease activity, and the activity of the p53, Rb / E2F and wnt / catenin signal transduction pathways. In most cases, p Read More

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the Western world. More than 56,000 newly diagnosed colorectal cancer patients die each year in the United States. Available therapies are either not effective or have unwanted side effects. Epidemiological data suggest that dietary manipulations play an important role in the prevention of many human cancers. Curcumin the yellow pigment in turmeric has be Read More

The epothilones are a novel class of non-taxane microtubule-stabilizing agents obtained from the fermentation of the cellulose degrading myxobacteria, Sorangium cellulosum. Preclinical studies have shown that the epothilones are more potent than the taxanes and active in some taxane-resistant models. Similar to paclitaxel and other taxanes, the epothilones block cells in mitosis, resulting in cell death. The chief c Read More

Farnesyltransferase catalyzes the transfer of a farnesyl residue from farnesylpyrophosphate to the thiol of a cysteine side chain of proteins which carry at the C-terminus the so called CAAX-sequence. Although the exact cellular events affected by farnesyltransferase inhibiton remain to be determined, farnesyltransferase has become a major target in the development of potential anti-cancer drugs. Numerous farnesyltrans Read More

Therapeutic management of cancer has undergone tremendous conceptual advance over the last couple of decades. Not only are we better acquainted with the intricate mechanisms leading to oncogenic transformation, but also the strategies to intercept and disturb these command and control pathways are becoming more specific and target-selective. One critical change is the realization that despite the existence of div Read More

After more than 100 years since the first adjuvant for a cancer vaccine was described and more than a decade since the first tumor antigen has been molecularly cloned, it seems possible that cancer vaccines might be integrated into the standard care of cancer patients. Exciting new technologies concerning tumor antigen discovery, vaccine delivery and formulation define the basis for enormous efforts in academia a Read More

Treatment of patients with unconjugated MAb such as rituximab (Rituxan) the anti-CD20 MAb or trastuzumab (Herceptin) the anti-Her2 MAb, have shown efficacy in clinical trials and have gained approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a result. Likewise, an anti-CD33 MAb conjugated with the antibiotic calicheamicin (Mylotarg) has proven efficacious in the treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia Read More

Ionizing radiation exhibits immunomodulatory properties, which could portend a future collaboration of cancer immunotherapy with radiation therapy. The “danger” model of immunity describes antigen-specific cellular immunity engendered by an inflammatory milieu. Dendritic cells (DCs) are attracted to this microenvironment, undergoing maturation after internalizing apoptotic and necrotic cellular debris. Mature DCs me Read More