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["Disease targeting therapy" for neurosurgical disorders: molecular targeting and drug delivery].

Recent progress in molecular biology introduced a concept of molecular targeting therapy against many diseases including neurosurgical disorders. Molecular targeting therapy is promising, because targeting a disease-specific molecule it may provide cure without inducing unfavorable side effects. Focusing mainly on CNS (central nervous system) malignancies, authors discuss the current development of molecular targeting therapy with a special concern to strategies using DNA, RNA, immunotoxin, and molecular selective inhibitors. Strategies using DNA include gene therapy and DNA vaccine. RNA interference (RNAi) is one of the promising molecular targeting strategies using RNA. Immunotoxins such as recombinant chimeric cytotoxin consisting of interleukin-13 and a truncated exotoxin produced by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium is now under clinical investigation. Many molecular targeted agents such as selective inhibitors for protein kinases are now in preclinical and clinical development for patients with malignant glioma. Additionally, authors introduce their attempts to visualize the local drug delivery using real-time MRI monitoring. Visualization of drug delivery, while achieving effective drug distribution using convection-enhanced delivery (CED), may also contribute to the disease targeting. These strategies together should help us develop the effective 'disease-targeting therapy' for CNS disorders.

Biotechnology↗

[Novel angiogenesis inhibitors for molecular target therapy of cancer].

Angiogenesis, neovascularization from pre-existing vasculature, is essential to allow growth of primary solid tumors and to enable metastasis. Recent biological studies in both tumor and endothelial cells have begun to present a wide variety of molecular targets for developing angiogenesis inhibitors. Therefore, angiogenesis inhibitors including anti-angiogenic agents as well as anti-vascular targeting agents have become promising drugs in cancer chemotherapy. However current unsolved problems in anti-angiogenic therapy are the lack of surrogate markers for therapeutic efficacy, as well as of establishment of effective combinations with other therapeutic approaches including conventional anticancer therapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy. This article focuses on the promising drugs with anti-angiogenic activity and their molecular targets under clinical trials, as well as the significance of clinical evaluation for anti-angiogenic therapies.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors↗

Molecular targeted therapy in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer (PROC): a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although single-agent chemotherapy is the most common approach for treating platinum-resistant or refractory ovarian cancer (PROC), there is growing evidence that combining molecular targeted agents with chemotherapy is beneficial, especially for certain patient groups. However, the most effective combination regimen remains elusive. OBJECTIVES: This Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) aims to identify the best combination therapy for PROC. METHODS: Relevant studies were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from their inception until October 2024. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and adverse events (AEs). Statistical analyses were performed using the GEMTC package (1.0-2) and R 4.2.0. This review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023428414). RESULTS: Our analysis of 22 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (n = 3408) demonstrated that chemotherapy combinations with bevacizumab (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.52-0.65), sorafenib (HR = 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.45-0.93) or adavosertib (HR = 0.56, 95%CI: 0.35-0.90) significantly improved OS and PFS versus chemotherapy alone. Notably, adavosertib + gemcitabine was associated with an increased risk of grade 3-4 AEs (relative risk (RR) = 1.8, 95%CI: 1.3-2.7), but these were generally manageable. CONCLUSIONS: Bevacizumab-based combinations demonstrate consistent benefits across multiple regimens for PROC. Paclitaxel + bevacizumab emerges as the optimal balance of efficacy and safety. Topotecan + sorafenib could be an alternative for patients who are ineligible for anti-angiogenic therapy.

Humans↗

Molecularly targeted therapy in acute myeloid leukemia.

Meaningful progress has been made toward clarifying the molecular steps in the pathogenesis of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Chromosome studies have established that translocations/inversions are the most common cytogenetic defects in AML. Cloning of chromosome breakpoints has shown that genes involved in the chromosome abnormalities are transcription factors, functional loss of which alters chromatin configuration and results in the disruption of myeloid differentiation. However, transgenic animal models have demonstrated that AML-specific translocations/inversions alone are insufficient to cause overt leukemia, which occurs only when point mutations affecting receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) develop. Therefore, development of AML is now considered a two-step process in which RTK mutations provide a proliferative and a survival advantage to a clonal cell population already marked by impaired differentiation. In addition, more accurate definition of such genetic lesions has led to a more precise insight as to how such lesions interact with cellular signaling pathways that are aberrantly regulated in AML. All these new data have profound clinical and therapeutic implications and will surely translate into the development of molecules that target specific mutations or signal transduction pathways.

Acetylation↗

Molecularly targeted therapy for melanoma: current reality and future options.

Effective therapy for melanoma remains an unmet goal, with most traditional therapies representing inadequate trade-offs among the several goals of specificity, efficacy, and toxicity. Targeted molecular therapeutics are tailored to genetic abnormalities that are associated with tumor progression. Modulation of aberrant signaling pathways in cancer cells has the potential to provide more effective and potentially nontoxic therapy for a broad range of cancers, including melanoma. Among the possible targets in melanoma are the Ras-MAPK and PI3K/AKT signal transduction pathways, the proteasome, histone deacetylases, methyltransferases, and melanoma-induced angiogenesis.

Angiogenesis Inhibitors↗

Molecular targeting therapy of cancer: drug resistance, apoptosis and survival signal.

Recent progress in the development of molecular cancer therapeutics has revealed new types of antitumor drugs, such as Herceptin, Gleevec, and Iressa, as potent therapeutics for specific tumors. Our work has focused on molecular cancer therapeutics, mainly in the areas of drug resistance, apoptosis and apoptosis resistance, and survival-signaling, which is related to drug resistance. In this review, we describe our research on molecular cancer therapeutics, including molecular mechanisms and therapeutic approaches. Resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs is a principal problem in the treatment of cancer. P-Glycoprotein (P-gp), encoded by the MDR1 gene, is a multidrug transporter and has a major role in multidrug resistance (MDR). Targeting of P-gp by small-molecular compounds and/or antibodies is an effective strategy to overcome MDR in cancer, especially hematologic malignancies. Several P-gp inhibitors have been developed and are currently under clinical phased studies. In addition to the multidrug transporter proteins, cancer cells have several drug resistance mechanisms. Solid tumors are often placed under stress conditions, such as glucose starvation and hypoxia. These conditions result in topo II poison resistance that is due to proteasome-mediated degradation of DNA topoisomerases. Proteasome inhibitors effectively prevent this stress-induced drug resistance. Glyoxalase I, which is often elevated in drug- and apoptosis-resistant cancers, offers another possibility for overcoming drug resistance. It plays a role in detoxification of methylglioxal, a side product of glycolysis, which is highly reactive with DNA and proteins. Inhibitors of glyoxalase I selectively kill drug-resistant tumors that express glyoxalase I. Finally, the susceptibility of tumor cells to apoptosis induced by antitumor drugs appears to depend on the balance between pro-apoptotic and survival (anti-apoptotic) signals. PI3K-Akt is an important survival signal pathway, that has been shown to be the target of various antitumor drugs, including UCN-01 and geldanamycin, new anticancer drugs under clinical evaluation. Our present studies provide novel targets for future effective molecular cancer therapeutics.

3-Phosphoinositide-Dependent Protein Kinases↗

Targeted molecular therapy for malignant gliomas.

Advances in our understanding of the molecular changes and resultant cellular effects in malignant glioma are expanding the opportunities for novel targeted therapies. At present, chemotherapy and radiation followed by chemotherapy with nonselective cytotoxic agents is emerging as a standard treatment option for patients with malignant glioma. Unfortunately significant improvements in response and survival have not occurred for the majority of patients. The continued improvement in patient outcomes will require the incorporation of glioma-specific therapies either in the form of compounds specifically targeted to glioma-specific receptors or that inhibit signaling pathways promoting glioma survival and progression.

Glioma↗

Molecular targeting therapy for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic carcinogenesis is driven by multiple genetic and epigenetic changes. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its downstream signaling pathways, Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK axis, play important roles in pancreatic cancer development. The phosphoinositol 3 kinase (PI3 K)/Akt and the nuclear factor kappaB (NF-kappaB) pathways control both proliferation and resistance to apoptosis of pancreatic cancer. The role of cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX) in the development of pancreatic cancer has been made known recently. The elucidation of these molecular events has led to several distinct therapeutic advances, including therapies that target EGFR, the Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK axis, the COX-2 and LOX pathways, and others. Many novel agents have been developed and are undergoing clinical investigation, such as monoclonal antibodies against EGFR, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), farnesyl transferase inhibitors (FTIs), Bay43-9006, CI-1040, CCI-779, celecoxib, and LY293111. This review highlights recent advances in the development of these agents.

Apoptosis↗

Molecular targeting therapy for renal cell carcinoma.

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is currently one of the most treatment-resistant malignancies. However, significant advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying RCC have led to the development of rationally designed therapies, which are now being tested clinically. To date, the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) pathway has been the most promising target, and two agents (BAY 43-9006 and SU 11248) that inhibit not only VEGFR but also other receptors, including platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3), KIT, and Raf kinase, were recently approved by the FDA for advanced RCC. In addition, a phase III trial investigating the addition of VEGF inhibition to interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) in RCC is also now going on. Although the clinical activity of existing agents is to be further defined in ongoing trials, the exciting clinical response data with VEGF inhibition in RCC have demonstrated a key role in the treatment of this historically resistant malignancy.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

[Molecular-target therapy of Ph-positive leukemia by imatinib (tyrosine kinase inhibitor)].

Imatinib mesylate is a 2-phenylaminopyrimidine tyrosine kinase inhibitor with specific activity for ABL, platelet-derived growth factor receptor, and c-kit receptor. The pharmacological basis of this interaction has been elucidated by crystallographic studies. Imatinib mesylate binds to the amino acids of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase ATP binding site and stabilizes the inactive, non-ATP-binding form of BCR-ABL, thereby preventing tyrosine autophosphorylation, and in turn, phosphorylation of its substrates. This process ultimately results in a "switch-off" of the downstream signaling pathways that promote leukemogenesis. Despite high rates of hematologic and cytogenetic responses to imatinib therapy, the emergence of resistance to imatinib has been recognized as a major problem in the treatment of Ph-positive leukemia. Considerable progress has been made in developing therapeutic agents that are effective against molecular targets specifically expressed in CML cells. It is important to emphasize that BCR-ABL is the ideal target for therapy even at relapse; at least one general mechanism of resistance involves maintenance of an active BCR-ABL kinase inside leukemic cells. It is also notable that the high frequency of BCR-ABL mutations and amplifications represents the high degree of heterogeneity in patients with advanced CML, in whom multiple leukemic clones may exist. For these reasons, a single inhibitor is unlikely to be able to block all mutants described so far.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Molecularly targeted therapy for pediatric brain tumors.

Treatment of pediatric brain tumors remains a challenge because of the toxicity associated with conventional treatment and the relative resistance of tumors at the time of recurrence. The traditional approach of administering cytotoxic agents at the maximum tolerated dose is being supplanted by the development of molecularly targeted agents aimed at critical cellular changes that are responsible for the growth and spread of cancer cells. These agents theoretically should be more specific for tumor cells and less toxic to normal cells. While the idea of targeted therapy has generated much excitement in the oncology community, the degree of benefit to patients with central nervous system (CNS) tumors remains unclear. Numerous challenges remain in the development of these agents, including identification of meaningful targets, delivery of agents in sufficient quantity at the target site, and determination of any biologic response to these agents. This article discusses the rationale behind several of these agents and their use in pediatric patients with brain tumors.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

Molecular target therapy for synovial sarcoma.

Although the specific chromosomal translocation and fusion gene SYT-SSX in synovial sarcoma (SS) has been identified, the molecular mechanism of its tumorigenesis is largely unknown. Recent gene-expression profiles of soft-tissue tumors using cDNA microarray demonstrated that SS has the distinct gene-expression pattern from other sarcomas and has a similar pattern to that of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors, indicating that the origin of SS is likely to be the neural crest cells. Through this analysis, several genes were found to be specifically upregulated in SS and considered to play an important role in the proliferation of SS cells. Among them, Frizzled homolog 10 was identified as a good candidate molecule for the development of novel therapies to treat SS patients.

Antineoplastic Agents↗

New prospectives of prostate cancer gene therapy: molecular targets and animal models.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death among North American men. The low cure rate for prostate cancer is associated with the fact that many patients have metastatic disease at the time of disease presentation. Currently available therapeutic modalities for prostate cancer, such as surgery, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy, have failed to cure patients because these therapies are not sufficiently tumor-specific, resulting in dose-limiting toxicity. Therefore, gene therapy may offer great promise in this regard. In this article, we summarize current advances in gene therapy technologies for the treatment of cancer in general, and future prospects for treatment of human prostate cancer metastasis. We specifically emphasize current studies for improvement, both in the efficiency and the specificity of viral and nonviral vectors, and restricted transgene expression in tumors, to achieve selective targeting with minimized host organ toxicity, based on the molecular understanding of potential regulatory differences between normal and tumor cells. Cell and animal models used to study prostate cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis, and their usefulness in preclinical evaluation of therapeutic vectors in the treatment of prostate cancer skeletal metastasis are also discussed.

Adenocarcinoma↗

On the analysis of count data of birth-and-death process type: with application to molecularly targeted cancer therapy.

For molecularly targeted cancer therapy, potency of a novel monoclonal antibody is typically studied in vitro in order to observe directly the effect of the antibody on a malignant tumour cell population. Numbers of viable cells of the population are counted over time to evaluate how the antibody may change the population growth pattern. Usually, such count data is analysed by a log-linear model to estimate the average antibody effects, but it is based on a Poisson-like process and is not appropriate for modelling the growth pattern of the tumour cells. In this paper, we propose to analyse the count data from the point of view of a birth-and-death process, which is a more natural description of the biological process in these experiments. Assuming a simple birth-and-death process and a naïve regression model for the birth rate and death rate, we show that the log-linear relationship still holds for the average count and the covariates, although the linear predictor needs to satisfy a specific functional form. The estimation can be based on the quasi-likelihood method. The variance is not a simple function of the mean, but can be adequately approximated by a function of mean of either quadratic form or linear form, available in most standard statistical packages. We perform a simulation study to show that the proposed method provides consistent and robust estimations. The utility of the method is demonstrated by the analysis of a data set for experiment for anti-lymphoma monoclonal antibodies.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗

Chemotherapy and targeted molecular therapies for brain metastases.

As therapy for systemic cancers improves, an increasing number of patients are developing brain metastases. Although conventional therapy with surgery, radiation therapy and radiosurgery has improved the outcome of a significant number of patients, many develop multiple lesions that are not amenable to standard treatments. In this review, the current role of chemotherapy and targeted molecular agents for brain metastases is summarized and future directions are discussed.

Antineoplastic Agents↗