Voici un article intéressant que je vais traduire tranquillement...si quelqu'un veut s'y mettre aussi, pas de problème je ne serai pas insulterPosted: April 8, 2006
Les chercheurs sont portés à penser que le chemin du succès est de détruire les cellules cancéreuses par les traitements conventionnels mais dans le processus ils peuvent aussi tuer des cellules saines. Les chercheurs focalisent leurs efforts maintenant sur des traitements qui peuvent cibler seulement des cellules cancéreuses sans attaquer les tissus sains dans leurs milieux. Ces nouveaux médicaments sont connus sous le nom de thérapie ciblée et les physiciens étudient leurs efficacité et les possibles effets secondaires dans une variété de différents types de cancer.
Plusieurs thérapies ciblées sont étudiées seule ou en combinaison pour traiter plussieurs types de cancers. En particulier, les tumeurs cancéreuses du cerveau peuvent être plus difficille à traiter que les autres. Les oncologistes développent les thérapies qui ciblent ces cellules pour augmenter le taux de survie des patients. Les chercheurs connaissent mieux les différences entre les cellules saines et les cellules cancéreuses ce qui augmente l'efficacité des traitements présents et des taux de survie, ce qu iapparait maintenant dans les études présentées à la 97 ième réunion de l'association américaine de la recherche sur le cancer.
Nf-Kb comme cible de thérapie pour le gliome malin : résumé 1506
Les chercheurs de l'institut national du cancer ont trouvés qu'il sont peut-être capables de traiter les cellules cancéreuses du cancer du cerveau avec une nouvelle thérapie ciblée qui inhibe une protéine appelé facteur cellulaire kappa B (nf-kb).
Le médicament appelé bortezomib (ou
Velcade) - quand utilisé seul ou en combinaison avec d'autres traitements - représente une nouvelle manière de traiter le glione malin, un cancer particulièrement acharné et agressif.
"Cibler la fabrication du NF-KB soit seul soit en combianison avec la chimio est un traitement efficace pour le gliome" dit Ai-min Hui médecin.
Dans leur étude, les chercheurs du NCI ont déterminés le rôle du NF-KB dans le renversement de l'apoptose (ou la mort programmé des cellules) des récepteurs modulateurs d'oestrogène (SERMs) dans le cancer du cerveau, aussi bien que comme thérapie potentielle qui peut être utilisée seule opu en combinaison avec la chimio pour bloquer la protéine. Des hauts niveaux de NF-KB sont présents dans les celllules du gliome et dans des échantillons de tumeurs mais pas dans les cellules normales du cerveau.
SERMs have shown some value in inducing cell death in brain cancers by a previously unknown method. They are designed to deliver the benefits of estrogen without its negative side effects, although gliomas do not generally express the estrogen receptor. However, previous studies have shown that NF-kB protects glioma cells from breaking down, therefore reversing the effect of SERM therapies.
Researchers looked at 203 glioma samples and determined that NF-ï?«B was activated. They also noticed that the level of activation was related to the grade of the tumor, suggesting that NF-ï?«B is related to tumor progression. Treatment with bortezomib suppressed both unregulated and signal-oriented activation in NF-kB by inhibiting the breakdown of IkB-alpha. IkB-alpha is one of a series of inhibitory proteins that controls the activation of NF-kB, preventing it from binding to DNA in the nucleus. Bortezomib not only stops the degradation of IkB-alpha, it also suppresses the activation of NF-kB, thus stopping cell growth.
"By interfering with the function of IkB-alpha proteins, bortezomib was shown to induce glioma cell degradation and enhance anti-cancer effects of SERMs," said Ai-Min Hui, M.D., Ph.D., research fellow at the National Cancer Institute and lead investigator on this trial.
"New studies looking at the combined use of bortezomib and high-dose tamoxifen may provide a viable treatment option for patients with recurrent, high grade malignant gliomas," he said.
Malignant gliomas are one of the most common brain tumors, accounting for more than half of the 18,000 primary cancerous brain tumors diagnosed annually in the United States, and are the fourth most common cause of cancer death in patients aged 15 to 44.
Standard treatment for patients diagnosed with brain cancer is surgery followed by radiation, sometimes with added chemotherapy. However, current therapies are considered inadequate to fight this deadly disease and researchers have been trying to identify new targets and develop new agents with different mechanisms of action to help increase patients' survival.
PTEN-Loss Mediated Herceptin (trastuzumab) Resistance and Targeting the PI3K Pathway as a Counteracting Strategy: Abstract No. IS-445
Le schercheurs de l'université du Texas ont compris pourquoi quelques femmes avec la forme Her-2 du cancer du sein, qui est une forme agressive de ce cancer, ne répondait pas au médicament
Herceptin ou pouvait développer une résistance à ce traitement.
Les chercheurs ont découvert qu'une combinaison de trastuzumab et un nouvel inhibiteur de kinases, PI3K, peuvent travailler ensemble pour augmenter les chances de survie de la patiente.
Trastuzumab treats women with metastatic breast cancer whose tumors overproduce the ErbB2 gene. The overproduction of the ErbB2 gene, also called Her-2/neu, leads to aggressive breast cancer and poorer patient survival. ErbB2 is part of a family of genes called epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR) that stimulate cell growth and division. Trastuzumab has shown outstanding efficacy for patients with high levels of the ErbB2 gene.
Approximately one-third of patients who possess the ErbB2 gene will respond to trastuzumab therapy, but the treatment is sometimes combined with other chemotherapy agents to make it more effective.
Still other patients develop resistance to the therapy over time.
In this study, researchers found that loss of PTEN can lead to resistance of trastuzumab. The PTEN gene (phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten) acts as a tumor suppressor gene, helping to regulate the cycle of cell division by keeping cells from growing and dividing uncontrollably or too rapidly, and ultimately forming tumors. Normally, the PTEN enzyme acts as part of a chemical pathway that signals cells to stop dividing and causes cells to undergo apoptosis.
However, reduced levels of PTEN contribute to trastuzumab resistance, both in vivo (humans and mice) and in vitro (culture). Patients with PTEN-deficient breast cancer have poorer outcomes and response to trastuzumab therapy when compared to those with normal PTEN levels.
The researchers then examined the role played by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway inhibitors to reverse PTEN-reduction-mediated trastuzumab resistance. PI3K regulates several key signals that initiate cell processes frequently disrupted by carcinogenesis, a process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells.
Seven PI3K pathway inhibitors, either currently in use or under development in clinical trials, were examined. One inhibitor used in combination with trastuzumab successfully inhibited cell growth, and a second, when used with trastuzumab, sensitized the therapeutic effects of the drug. Researchers said the next step is to conduct a phase I/II study looking at these combinations in patients who did not respond to traztuzumab as a first-line therapy.
"PTEN seems to be a very sensitive and specific predictor to trastuzumab-based therapy and data suggest that activation of PTEN is a novel mechanism underlying the anti-tumor activity of trastuzumab.
Combination therapy may provide more effective therapeutic regimens, allowing more patients to benefit from trastuzumab," said Dihua Yu, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of surgical oncology and director of research in the Surgery Division, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
A Novel, Potent and Selective IGF-1R Small Molecule Inhibitor Blocks Activation of IGF-1R Signaling in Vitro and Inhibits IGF-1R Dependent Tumor Growth in Vivo: Abstract No. LB-281
Researchers from OSI
Pharmaceuticals have identified a new small molecule inhibitor that may stop the growth of colon cancer. In this study, investigators discovered and tested an IGF-1R inhibitor, referred to as Compound 1.*
DEs chercheurs ont identifié une nouvelle molecule inhibitrice qui peut arrêter la croissance d'un cancer du colon. Dans cette étude, les chercheurs ont découvert et testé un inhibiteur de IGF-1R, appelé molécule 1.
Le composé 1 a démontré qu'il était capable d'empêcher la réponse de IGF-1R en bloquant l'activité de 2 processus en aval, ce qui empêche la progression du cancer. L'étude a aussi montré que le cancer répond au médicament parce que les tumeurs sont dépendantes de IGF-II.
"We are very encouraged by the results seen in our pre-clinical IGF-1R inhibitor program. The most important finding of our study was that, when administered orally, our IGF-1R inhibitor prevented the growth of human colon cancer tumors in mice," said Jonathan A. Pachter, Ph.D., senior director of cancer biology, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Long Island, N.Y. Insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is a cellular protein with a molecular structure similar to that of the receptor for insulin, a hormone that regulates the amount of glucose sugar in the blood. The IGF-1R has been shown to play roles in tumor cell growth and the inhibition of cell death. There are two circulating proteins (or ligands) that activate the IGF-1R (IGF-I and IGF-II). The excess production of IGF-II is thought to encourage tumor growth.
Certain tumors, including colorectal, non-small cell lung, ovarian and some cancers in children, drive their own growth and survival through the overproduction of IGF-II. This IGF-II activates the IGF-1R on the surface of cancer cells to stimulate tumor growth, making IGF-1R an important treatment target for many human cancers.
"This small molecule represents a potent and selective IGF-1R kinase inhibitor that could be effective in the treatment of IGF-II driven human cancers," said Dr. Pachter.
"Cette petite molécule représente un puissant agent sélectif inhibiteur de IGF-1R qui peut être efficace pour les cancers humains qui sont en croissance à cause de IGF-II" a dit le docteur Patchter.
A variety of approaches to block IGF-1R signaling have been used to cause cell death in a broad range of cancers, both in cell cultures and live models. Through the use of structure-based design, OSI Pharmaceuticals has been able to identify small molecules that selectively block the ability of IGF-1R to increase cell growth.
Another major challenge in the development of IGF-1R inhibitors is to avoid blocking the closely related insulin receptor that regulates glucose levels in the blood. Results from the study showed that in addition to diminishing or halting tumor growth in human cancer cells transferred to live test animals, OSI's IGF-1R inhibitor showed no substantial rise in blood sugar.