Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:2.7.10.1 (ERK)
 95,504 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Based on genetic diversity in the population, there is an expectation, born out by decades of experience, that a given drug or treatment will not be equally efficacious for all patients. While this fact cannot be avoided, with ever increasing knowledge of the drug's biological mechanism of action and the relationship between efficacy and the patient's genetic profile, more directed treatments, with greater potential for efficacy are becoming possible. For example, Herceptin, Genentech's antibody based treatment for HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer, is prescribed based on the results of a diagnostic test, the outcome of which is able to screen out patients who have no chance of responding to the treatment. At the extreme of tailoring medicines to those patients who will receive the greatest benefit, is an autologous, or patient specific approach. Oncophage, a cancer vaccine in late stage clinical trials, is designed to accommodate the unique genetic mutations underlying each patient's cancer. This chapter of the book presents the challenges involved in bringing autologous HSP-based vaccines to commercial reality based on the experiences gained to date in the clinical manufacture of Oncophage. Two guiding principles have dominated our efforts. First, only the product should be autologous. All processes should be standardized to the greatest extent possible. Second, maintaining complete segregation between patient samples at all steps of processing is paramount.
 ...
PMID:The challenges of bringing autologous HSP-based vaccines to commercial reality. 1462 79

A search of the Medline database and ASCO 2003 conference proceedings was conducted to identify clinical trials currently underway using single-agent therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Combination trials were identified using the ASCO 2003 conference proceedings. Fourteen single-agent therapies employing different mechanisms of action were identified in the published literature: imatinib mesylate (Gleevec); bevacizumab (Avastin); thalidomide (Thalomid); gefitinib (ZD1839) (Iressa); cetuximab (IMC-C225) (Erbitux); bortezomib (PS-341) (Velcade); HSPPC-96 (Oncophage); BAY 59-8862; ABT-510; G250; CCI-779; SU5416; PTK/ZK; and ABX-EGF. Six distinct fields of clinical research have emerged: monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, vaccines, second-generation taxanes, nonapeptides and immunomodulators. Five combination regimens, primarily biological response modifiers (interleukin-2 or interferon-alpha), chemotherapy- or thalidomide-based, were identified. All therapies demonstrated acceptable toxicity profiles. Clinical benefit was assessed based on each study's reported criteria: antitumor response (regression or stability) ranged from 5% to 71%. In the past several years, significant advances in the underlying biological mechanisms of RCC, particularly the role of tumor angiogenesis, have permitted the design of molecularly targeted therapeutics. Based on preliminary and limited studies, combination therapies offer the greatest clinical benefit in the management of this malignancy, although additional basic research is still warranted.
 ...
PMID:Renal cell carcinoma: review of novel single-agent therapeutics and combination regimens. 1559 29