Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0376358 (prostate cancer)
 59,338 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF, sargramostim [Leukine]) is a powerful cytokine that is able to stimulate the generation of dendritic cells. Adjuvant treatment with continuous low-dose GM-CSF has been shown to prolong survival of stage III/IV melanoma patients. Data on continuous low-dose GM-CSF therapy in tumors other than prostate cancer are still lacking. This pilot trial was initiated in order to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of continuous low-dose GM-CSF as salvage in various chemotherapy-refractory carcinomas. A total of 19 patients who had failed a median of 4 prior chemotherapies were included. Their malignancies included metastatic breast cancer, recurrent ovarian carcinoma, metastatic endometrial carcinoma, and recurrent squamous cell cancer of the cervix uteri. Continuous low-dose GM-CSF was delivered subcutaneously at a daily starting dose of 125 microg. GM-CSF was increased at 25-microg increments until a maximum of 250 microg was reached or when mild leukocytosis (10-20 g/L) was achieved, providing that the relative eosinophil count did not exceed 15%. Therapy was continued until progression or refusal by the patient. Toxicity was generally mild. Only one patient was withdrawn due to grade 3 fatigue. In three additional patients, temporary dose reduction was necessary because of grade 1 injection site reactions, which recovered spontaneously. Mild to moderate leukocytosis was obvious in 10 patients. Systemic hypersensitivity-like reactions did not occur and no patient required hospitalization for other life-threatening side effects. The objective response rate was 37%: 1 complete and 6 partial responses, 4 disease stabilizations, 8 progression of disease. Median response duration was 6 months. Notably, 6 of 7 responders but only 1 of 8 patients with disease progression developed leukocytosis during therapy. Therefore, we conclude that continuous low-dose GM-CSF has substantial activity in heavily pretreated patients with either metastatic breast cancer or female genital tract cancer. Achievement of mild leukocytosis seems to be a predictor of response.
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PMID:Continuous low-dose GM-CSF as salvage therapy in refractory recurrent breast or female genital tract carcinoma. 1593 97

Compounds based on a flavonoid (di-phenolic) ring structure are emerging as a potentially important new class of pharmaceutical compounds with a broad range of biological activities, most prominent of which are their potential role as anticancer agents. These compounds exert a wide range of upregulating and downregulating effects on signal transduction processes within cells in both plants and animals. The observation that human communities, which consume large quantities of these compounds (legume-based vegetarian diets), have a lower incidence of many degenerative diseases and some cancers has led to the speculation that these compounds, or synthetic analogs, may be of therapeutic value. This article reviews the evidence supporting this hypothesis and provides some examples of attempts to develop new therapeutics based on dietary isoflavones or novel isoflavonoid structures in maintaining prostate health and in cancer treatment and management. One of these compounds, phenoxodiol, is now in human clinical trials and has shown promise in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer where the cancer is refractory or resistant to standard chemotherapy, and in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer.
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PMID:Flavonoid compounds in maintenance of prostate health and prevention and treatment of cancer. 1598 50

Oral niraparib, a highly-selective, potent poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP)-1 and PARP-2 inhibitor, is approved in the USA for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer who are in a complete or partial response to platinum-based chemotherapy. It is also under regulatory review in the EU for use in maintenance treatment in patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer who are in response to platinum-based chemotherapy. In the multinational, phase 3 NOVA trial in adult patients with platinum-sensitive, recurrent ovarian cancer, niraparib significantly prolonged median progression-free survival, irrespective of the presence or absence of a germline BRCA (gBRCA) mutation and irrespective of the presence or absence of homologous recombinant deficiency. Niraparib is also in development for use in other solid tumours, including breast and prostate cancer. This article summarizes the milestones in the development of niraparib leading to its first global approval for the maintenance treatment of adult patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer.
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PMID:Niraparib: First Global Approval. 2847 97

Olaparib (Lynparza [AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK], formerly referred to as AZD2281 or KU0059436) is an oral poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor. It is rationally designed to act as a competitive inhibitor of NAD+ at the catalytic site of PARP1 and PARP2, both members of the PARP family of enzymes that are central to the repair of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) mediated via the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Inhibition of the BER pathway by olaparib leads to the accumulation of unrepaired SSBs, which leads to the formation of deleterious double-strand breaks (DSBs). In cells with an intact homologous recombination (HR) pathway, these DSBs can be repaired effectively. However, in tumors with homologous recombination repair deficiencies, olaparib causes synthetic lethality through the combination of two molecular events that are otherwise nonlethal when occurring in isolation. Olaparib is already approved for the treatment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation, and it has been shown to provide clinically meaningful benefits among such patients. It has also shown promising activity in patients with metastatic breast or prostate cancer and a germline BRCA mutation. Besides its usage as a single agent, olaparib can also act either as a chemo- and/or radiosensitizer, due to its ability to potentiate the cytotoxic effects of these therapeutic agents. However, a clear patient benefit for the latter application has not been demonstrated yet.
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PMID:Olaparib. 3006 70