Abstract: Despite the recent advances in its management using cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy, ovarian cancer remains the most lethal gynecological malignancy. One possible treatment strategy that may improve patient outcome is the use of monoclonal antibodies (mAb) that selectively target tumor cells expressing tumor-associated antigens, and thus offer potential benefits such as avoiding the cytotoxic side effects in normal tissue caused by traditional chemotherapeutic agents. Based on the promising results of preclinical studies, various mAb are currently being evaluated in patients with ovarian cancer. Some of them have already demonstrated favorable clinical outcomes in phase I/II studies. However, in contrast to its use for hematological malignancies and certain solid malignancies such as breast and colorectal cancer, mAb-based therapy has not been convincingly proven to be clinically effective in patients with ovarian cancer. As the preclinical results of mAb's therapeutic effects on ovarian cancer have been encouraging, further investigations are needed to establish a more effective, specific, and less toxic treatment strategy for this malignancy. ... Read more

Abstract: Standard anti-cancer therapeutic modalities like chemotherapy and radiotherapy evoke host's reactions that include involvement of the immune system. Elucidation of these mechanisms offers the double advantage of enabling a more rational choice of cytotoxic therapy and exploring the combination with immunotherapy. Radiotherapy, a well established local anti-cancer approach, is a particularly interesting partner for immunotherapy, since it can be harnessed to specifically modify the immunogenicity of the primary tumor and its microenvironment, in the attempt to generate an in situ immunization against a patient's own cancer. ... Read more

Abstract: No chemotherapy regimen showed a survival benefit better than 5-fluorouracil alone in a phase III trial for advanced gastric cancer in 1990s, and several new cytotoxic agents became available in late 1990s. Thereafter, a couple of phase III trials supported the substitution of infusional 5-fluorouracil by orally administered agents and the replacement of cisplatin by oxaliplatin in early 2000s. Furthermore, a substantial amount of information about the heterogeneity and the biological backgrounds of gastric cancer has been obtained from recent trials, and it is suggested that some cytotoxic agents would be well indicated. Trastuzumab has succeeded in showing a survival benefit for patients with Her-2 positive gastric cancer which accounts for about 10-20% of the cancer. This means that the door is opened to the new era of chemotherapy with molecular target agents and with individualization for advanced gastric cancer. The new approach in the development of molecular target agents, e.g., biomarker oriented strategy, for advanced gastric cancer should be studied in clinical trials in the near future. ... Read more

Abstract: Even when a breast cancer patient has only minimal lymph node involvement, additional therapy is needed. If women are not treated with adjuvant systemic therapy like chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy, disease-free survival is reduced by 10% at 5-year follow-up. These are the main results from the MIRROR study, a Dutch cohort study in which all hospitals from The Netherlands have participated. The results were recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine (de Boer, 2009). The study was supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (945-06-509). ... Read more

Abstract: Cancer is a complex and heterogeneous disease which changes over time, and in the face of therapeutic intervention. Single tissue biomarkers, while partially successful in helping us understand which patients will respond to therapy, cannot hope to capture this amazing complexity. Systems pathology, which combines measurements made on tissues with new mathematical modelling approaches, permits the testing of new agents and biomarkers in silico through computational analysis. These approaches help us to refine pathological measurements and improve decision making about therapies for clinical trial planning and ultimately personalized therapy. ... Read more

Abstract: With the human genome sequence at hand, it is now possible to sequence coding regions of cancer cell genomes to identify the mutated genes that drive tumor formation. The clinical importance of breast and colorectal cancer, together causing 14% of yearly cancer deaths, make these two tumor types suitable initial candidates for cancer genome sequencing. We recently surveyed more than half of the known human genes for somatic mutations in eleven breast and eleven colorectal cancers, and defined 122 and 69 genes, respectively, as candidate cancer genes in these two diseases. The study design provides a blueprint for future cancer genome sequencing efforts, validated by its ability to detect known and novel cancer genes. The findings shed light on heterogeneity between and within tumor types and provide novel research avenues for cancer biology. ... Read more

Abstract: Most current drug treatments cannot cure cancer. Recent studies have demonstrated that one of the reasons is that chemoagents kill the rapidly growing cells, including cancer cells, but do little damage to non-dividing cells. Cancerous stem cells stay quiescent and escape from these chemoagents to mount a comeback at a later time. ... Read more

Abstract: Mortality rates from breast cancer have fallen in most European countries in recent years due to effective early diagnosis and treatment. However, these rates are still rising in most other parts of the world. An overview of the landscape of breast cancer research and treatment is presented. ... Read more

Abstract: Bone metastasis is common among prostate and breast cancers. It often presents as an insurmountable challenge for effective treatments. Redirecting genetically programmed immune cells against metastasized cancer cells via a new technology called "T-body" is explored. ... Read more

Abstract: Nanotechnology is all the rage these days. In medicine, nanotechnology is being studied for, among other uses, effective drug delivery, which would serve both diagnosis and therapy. When nearly insoluble drugs are made into nano-sized particles and delivered orally or intravenously, they are dissolved faster because of their greater surface-to-mass ratio and hence the bigger exposure to "solvents" in the body. ... Read more