 |
|
Cell skeleton may hold key to overcoming drug resistance in cancer
October 04, 2007Researchers have uncovered a new way in which a cell protein protects cancer cells from a wide range of chemotherapeutic drugs, identifying a possible target for improving treatment outcomes for patients.
A team of scientists at Children's Cancer Institute Australia for Medical Research (CCIA), led by Associate Professor Maria Kavallaris, discovered that the bIII-tubulin component of the cell's cytoskeleton could play an important role in resistance to a wide range of drugs used to treat lung, ovarian and breast cancers.
Advanced non-small cell lung carcinomas (NSCLC) account for more than 80 per cent of lung cancer cases. More than one million people are diagnosed with lung cancer every year, the most common cancer in the world and the leading cause of cancer deaths. Chemotherapy remains the most effective treatment option, involving a diverse range of drugs, often used in combination. However, the emergence of drug-resistant tumours in NSCLC means chemotherapy no longer holds the promise of a good outcome for many patients.
Increased expression of bIII-tubulin has been linked to drug resistance in NSCLC, ovarian and breast cancers. In the latest Cancer Research publication, Associate Professor Kavallaris and her team showed that blocking the expression of the bIII-tubulin gene in NSCLC cells led to an increase in their sensitivity to a range of chemotherapeutic drugs.
"Our results strongly suggest that the bIII-tubulin component is responsible for protecting NSCLC cells from the action of key chemotherapeutic drugs," said Associate Professor Kavallaris.
"This is the first scientific evidence for the broader implications of abnormal expression of this protein.
"We now have new insight into a mechanism of drug resistance in NSCLC which has not previously been reported. This has important implications for improving the targeting and treatment of a number of cancers which are resistant to current chemotherapeutic drugs," said Associate Professor Kavallaris.
Research Australia
Increased expression of bIII-tubulin has been linked to drug resistance in NSCLC, ovarian and breast cancers. In the latest Cancer Research publication, Associate Professor Kavallaris and her team showed that blocking the expression of the bIII-tubulin gene in NSCLC cells led to an increase in their sensitivity to a range of chemotherapeutic drugs.
"Our results strongly suggest that the bIII-tubulin component is responsible for protecting NSCLC cells from the action of key chemotherapeutic drugs," said Associate Professor Kavallaris.
"This is the first scientific evidence for the broader implications of abnormal expression of this protein.
"We now have new insight into a mechanism of drug resistance in NSCLC which has not previously been reported. This has important implications for improving the targeting and treatment of a number of cancers which are resistant to current chemotherapeutic drugs," said Associate Professor Kavallaris.
Research Australia
Chemotherapeutic Drug Current Events and Chemotherapeutic Drug News RSSGene mutation improves leukemia drug's effect
Gene mutations that make cells cancerous can sometimes also make them more sensitive to chemotherapy. A new study led by cancer researchers at Ohio State University shows that a mutation present in some cases of acute leukemia makes the disease more susceptible to high doses of a particular anticancer drug.
Potential New Therapeutic Molecular Target to Fight Cancer
Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center have identified the enzyme sphingosine kinase 2 as a possible new therapeutic target to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy for colon and breast cancer.
Why cisplatin kills breast cancer cells when other drugs fail
The cancerous cells of some individuals with breast cancer lack expression of two cell surface proteins, the estrogen and progesterone receptors, and do not express increased amounts of HER2.
Tumors stopped from spreading to new sites
For several types of cancer, persistently high levels of the soluble factor TGF-beta in the blood after surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy correlate with increased risk of early metastasis and a poor prognosis.
Researchers find stem-cell therapy effective in targeting metastatic cancer
Patients with advanced cancer that has spread to many different sites often do not have many treatment options, since they would be unable to tolerate the doses of treatment they would need to kill the tumors.
Opening a Door into Cells: Research Shows How Ultrasound Can Deliver Therapeutic Molecules into Living Cells
Researchers have shown how ultrasound energy can briefly "open a door" in the protective outer membranes of living cells to allow entry of drugs and other therapeutic molecules - and how the cells themselves can then quickly close the door.
Novel mechanism of taxane resistance
Research Associate Chih-Jian Lih and others working in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley N. Cohen at Stanford University have pinpointed a gene that affects human cancer cells' sensitivity to chemotherapy-an important finding in the effort to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.
Nanoparticles carry cancer-killing drugs into tumor cells
University of Michigan scientists have created the nanotechnology equivalent of a Trojan horse to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells - increasing the drug's cancer-killing activity and reducing its toxic side effects.
CHEMOEMBOLISATION OFFERS SURVIVAL BENEFIT FOR PEOPLE WITH LIVER CANCER (p 1734)
People with liver cancer that cannot be treated with surgical resection or transplantation could have an increased two-year survival if they are given chemoembolisation-a procedure in which blood supply to the tumour combined with the effect of chemotherapy inhibits cancer growth. There is no standard treatment for liver cancer when surgery, transplantation, or percutaneous treatment is not possible, which applies to around three-quarters of all liver cancer cases. Arterial embolisation-the restriction of blood supply to the tumour-is widely used, but there is uncertainty whether it has a survival benefit. Jordi Bruix and Josep Llovet from Hospital Clinic, Barcelona, Spain, lead a multicente
More Chemotherapeutic Drug Current Events and Chemotherapeutic Drug News Articles
| Transition Metal Complexes as Drugs and Chemotherapeutic Agents (Catalysis by Metal Complexes) by N. Farrell | |
 | Anti-apoptotic and Pro-inflammatory Signaling in Cancer Cells: Status and Modulation by Chemotherapeutic Drugs by Dr. Gabriele Imre The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa-B (NFkB) plays a pivotal role in the immune response but is also involved in cancer development and progression. In unstimulated cells NFkB is kept inactive in the cytoplasm by inhibitor of NFkB (IkB) proteins. Dysregulation of the pathway or activation of NFkB by chemotherapeutic agents may lead to cancer progression or drug resistance. The NFkB... |
| Acquired Resistance of Microorganisms to Chemotherapeutic Drugs (Primates in Medicine) | |
| CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC DRUG COMPATIBILITY by Abbott Laboratories Hospital Products Division | |
 | Glioblastoma Treatment with 2,5-Dimethyl-Celecoxib (DMC) In Vitro: Effects of Additional Chemotherapeutic Drugs and Tumor Microenvironment - Inconsistencies ... In Vitro Cell Growth and Survival Assays by Nathaniel Soriano 2,5-dimethyl-celecoxib (DMC) is a close structural analog of the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor celecoxib (Celebrex®) that lacks COX-2 inhibitory function yet maintains all of celecoxibs anti-tumor properties. We set out to investigate the potential of combining current glioblastoma chemotherapies with DMC as a new approach to enhance glioblastoma cell killing. DMC was not only... |
 | Burger's Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, Chemotherapeutic Agents (Burger's Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery) This is Volume 5: Chemotherapeutic Agents, of Burger's Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, 6th Edition. This new volume contains critical new chapters on Molecular Biology of Cancer, Synthetic Anti-angiogenic Agents and Selective Toxicities. To purchase the entire 6 volume set, please refer to ISBN 0-471-37032-0. For a complete list of articles and contributors as well as FREE... |
| Ionic interpretation of drug action in chemotherapeutic research by Alexander Vladimir Tolstoouhov | |
| Ionic Interpretation of Drug Action In Chemotherapeutic Research by A.V. Tolstoouhov | |
| Cytotoxic effects of chemotherapeutic drugs on mouse testis cells by Cheryle C-S Shieh Lu | |
| Assessment of urinary excretion of antimalarial drugs in large-scale chemotherapeutic eradication projects by Leonard Jan Bruce-Chwatt |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |