Abstract: Although thyroid carcinoma usually has an excellent prognosis, the lack of therapeutic options is an issue for patients that develop metastases and are resistant to radioiodine therapy. The development of novel molecular targeted therapies and the characterization of several proteins that have a crucial role in the carcinogenesis process of differentiated thyroid cancer have created an opportunity to design new clinical trials for this setting. Moreover, the encouraging initial results of first clinical trials have accelerated the development of placebo-controlled phase III studies that will assess the role of these new agents in the management of differentiated thyroid cancer. ... Read more

Abstract: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. About 50% of the patients present locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. First line therapy usually consists of a combination of cisplatin or carboplatin with a third-generation agent (paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, or vinorelbine) that results in less than 5% 5-year survival (Goldstraw et al., 2007). Recently a different approach based on histological subtype has been introduced in the first line treatment of NSCLC: in the non-squamous histotypes, cisplatin plus pemetrexed, compared to the cisplatin plus gemcitabine combination, showed a better outcome, leading to its introduction in the first line treatment setting. In recent years advances in the second and third line treatments have led to a prognostic improvement. Two cytotoxic agents, docetaxel and pemetrexed, are approved as NSCLC second line treatment, and a new class of drugs against specific molecular targets -- tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (TKI) -- has emerged as an alternative to conventional treatment. Many trials are ongoing to assess the activity of new drugs, alone or in combination with other agents, or new combinations of third-generation chemotherapeutic agents. ... Read more

Abstract: The 10+ year journey from benchtop to bedside is often a tumultuous one. For those researchers who successfully made it through this journey, the triumph is preceded by tenacity, perseverance, funding, good science, and sound strategy. They have "done right" on something that is critically important. Bortezomib (Velcade) for multiple myeloma represents a model paradigm that has a lot to teach us. ... Read more

Other Names: bortezomib, PS-341.

Maker: Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Disease Treated: Relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma patients who have previously received at least two regimens of chemotherapy and showed disease progression during the course of the latest chemotherapy.

Chemical/Biological Nature: VELCADE is a modified dipeptidyl boronic acid. When reconstituted in solution containing mannitol, it exists in equilibrium with its hydrolysis product — the monomeric boronic acid which has a molecular weight of 384.2 daltons.

Approval Status: Approved by the U.S. FDA on May 13, 2003. The start of phase I trial to FDA approval was only 4.5 years, making it one of the fastest ... Read more

On May 19, 2003, Genentech announced that its anti-cancer drug Avastin “markedly” improved overall survival when combined with standard chemotherapy in a phase III clinical trial of colon cancer patients. Details of the trial were made available at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Annual Conference held in Chicago in early June (see below), though the few tidbits that were released on May 19 have proven to be especially juicy. Genentech stock was up 45% or an increase of $8.7 billion in market value following the news. The excitement lived on. In the ensuing days, Genentech stock was up ... Read more

Chiron to Purchase PowderJect, Strengthens Vaccine Franchise

On May 19, 2003, Chiron Corp., Emeryville, California announced a definitive offer to purchase PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, plc., UK for £520 or $878 million in cash. Chiron’s vaccine division had total sales of $357 million last year whereas PowderJect had total sales of $268 million in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003.

The combination of Chiron’s vaccine business and PowderJect will become one of the top vaccine makers compared with the two companies’ existing positions as the fifth and sixth largest vaccine businesses in the world, respectively.

“We consider PowderJect to be an excellent ... Read more

Proteasome: A new drug target

Millennium Pharmaceuticals’ investigational drug MLN341 (formerly known as PS-341) targets and disrupts the cell’s proteasome, a new cancer drug target. Proteasome is an enzyme complex in the cell responsible for breaking down proteins including those that regulate cell cycle and division. Preclinical studies showed that, by targeting the proteasome, MLN341 disrupted cell division-regulating proteins and induced apoptosis of cancer cells. Millennium recently received a fast-track status for MLN341, which is currently in phase II trials for the treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma.

“MLN341 may be a promising therapy for a variety of cancers because its ... Read more

This year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to two American scientists, Dr. William Knowles, retired from Monsanto in St. Louis, and Dr. K. Barry Sharpless of Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif. and a Japanese chemist Dr. Ryoji Noyori of Nagoya University. The three scientists pioneered the work of making catalysts to skew the synthesis of certain chemical compounds to a preferred geometric form over their mirror-image counterparts. The discovery of these catalysts and chemical pathways has had vast implications in production of chemical compounds of importance, from pharmaceuticals to insecticides.

Many molecules including proteins, DNA, and ... Read more