Articles
Hsp90 inhibition has been found to be a successful therapeutic approach for combating diseases that use JAK/STAT signaling for tumor growth. In in vivo and in vitro models, researchers showed that the small molecule Hsp90 inhibitor ganetespib exhibited potent activity in tumor cells dependent specifically on JAK2 signaling. Specifically, ganetespib sustained depletion of JAK2 including active JAK2V617Fmutant, subsequently decreasing STAT activity and reducing STAT-target gene expression.
ANAHEIM—Hypersensitivity or infusion reactions to chemotherapy agents or monoclonal antibodies can be life-threatening but often can be managed with premedications or titration of infusion rates to allow continuance of therapy, said Catherine Christen, PharmD, at the 45th American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exposition.
Blocking miR-21 overexpression was found to retrieve trastuzumab sensitivity in trastuzumab-resistant breast cancer cells, in a study of cell lines derived from HER2-postive breast carcinomas. This theory was derived from identification of overexpression of miR-21 in HER-positive, trastuzumab-resistant cells. The researchers also found that miR-21 upregulation in trastuzumab-resistant cells led to PTEN reduction.
The evidence backing the use of myeloid growth factors in patients at high risk for febrile neutropenia is solid, according to Jeffrey Crawford, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, North Carolina.
ORLANDO—High-dose melphalan followed by an autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplant is standard initial therapy for multiple myeloma; however, the toxicity and efficacy of this treatment is variable. “The sources of this variability are not well understood,” said Dan T. Vogl, MD, of the Multiple Myeloma Program at the Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia. “We hypothesized that variation in melphalan pharmacokinetics would explain differences in outcomes after transplant.”
ORLANDO—A novel prostate brachytherapy technique that avoids the central zone may sharply reduce periurethral prostate radiation (XBT) and significantly reduce posttreatment urinary obstruction/irritation. In addition, this approach may significantly reduce long-term urinary incontinence, according to a prospective study presented at the Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.
SAN FRANCISCO—A novel small-caliber metal stent can provide a low-risk means of palliation for severe malignant dysphagia, according to investigators who have created these stents and are now testing them in trials. The results were presented at the 2011 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium by Stephen Kucera, MD, of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa, Florida, where he is an interventional endoscopy fellow.