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June 16, 2005
Drug Shows 'hope' for range of cancers
Topics: Clinical PharmacologyAccording to Institute of Cancer Research scientists in London, a drug has shown promising signs of fighting a number of different types of cancer in early trials. The drug, 17AAG [17-(Allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin], blocked breast, bowel, skin and prostate cancer in 30 patients as well as in in-vitro.
The Journal of Clinical Oncology study confirms 17AAG works, but experts say that more trials are needed before the prototype becomes a real treatment option. The drug seems to work by targeting a molecule that is important for tumour growth, called heat shock protein Hsp-90, which relays messages around cells by helping to control the structure and function of a large number of other molecules that are critical for cancer growth.
Pharmaceutical companies are currently investigating ways to block HSP90, which is commonly known as a promiscuous chaperone protein because it binds to many different cells and receptors in the body. (green tea does this naturally, which might modulate HSP-90 in a way that researchers haven't seen before). Hsp90(90 kD heat shock protein) is unique among molecular chaperones. The majority of its known substrates are signal transduction proteins, and recent work indicates that it uses a novel protein-folding strategy. In the eukaryotic cytosol, Hsp90 is termed variously Hsp90{alpha} and ß in humans (corresponding to a major and minor isoform). Without these molecules cancer cells die, whereas healthy cells are not affected by their loss.
However, this 17AAG is highly targeted, and because it targets so many different features of cancer's machinery all at once, experts say that it should make it much more difficult for tumours to develop resistance to treatment.
(...) Lead researcher Professor Paul Workman explained: "By blocking the action of Hsp90, the drug has the potential to attack cancer by shutting down a range of systems that cancer cells use to spread and grow."
Read more at BBCNews ...
cross posted by Hyscience
Posted by Richard at June 16, 2005 11:05 PM
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