Experimental therapeutics and drug development

Combination therapy with c-met inhibitor and TRAIL enhances apoptosis in dedifferentiated liposarcoma patient-derived cells

Liposarcoma (LPS) is a tumor derived from adipose tissue, and has the highest incidence among soft tissue sarcomas. Dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) is a malignant tumor with poor prognosis. Recurrence and...

Authors: Eun Byeol Jo, Young Sang Lee, Hyunjoo Lee, Jae Berm Park, Hyojun Park, Yoon-La Choi, Doopyo Hong and Sung Joo Kim

The LACOG-0415 phase II trial: abiraterone acetate and ADT versus apalutamide versus abiraterone acetate and apalutamide in patients with advanced prostate cancer with non-castration testosterone levels

Testosterone suppression is the standard treatment for advanced prostate cancer, and it is associated with side-effects that impair patients’ quality of life, like sexual dysfunction, osteoporosis, weight gain...

Authors: Gustavo Werutsky, Fernando Cotait Maluf, Eduardo Henrique Cronemberger, Vinicius Carrera Souza, Suelen Patricia dos Santos Martins, Fábio Peixoto, Oren Smaletz, Fábio Schutz, Daniel Herchenhorn, Telma Santos, Flavio Mavignier Carcano, David Queiroz Muniz, Paulo R. S. Nunes Filho, Facundo Zaffaroni, Carlos Barrios and André Fay

Regulation of cisplatin-resistant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by the SRC/ETS-1 signaling pathway

We investigated the role of the ETS-1 transcription factor in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) in multiple cisplatin-resistant HNSCC cell lines.

Authors: Zejia Yang, Jipei Liao, Brandon A. Carter-Cooper, Rena G. Lapidus, Kevin J. Cullen and Hancai Dan

Concomitant use of pembrolizumab and entinostat in adult patients with metastatic uveal melanoma (PEMDAC study): protocol for a multicenter phase II open label study

While recent years have seen a revolution in the treatment of metastatic cutaneous melanoma, no treatment has yet been able to demonstrate any prolonged survival in metastatic uveal melanoma. Thus, metastatic ...

Authors: Henrik Jespersen, Roger Olofsson Bagge, Gustav Ullenhag, Ana Carneiro, Hildur Helgadottir, Ingrid Ljuslinder, Max Levin, Charlotta All-Eriksson, Bengt Andersson, Ulrika Stierner, Lisa M. Nilsson, Jonas A. Nilsson and Lars Ny

Advanced assessment of migration and invasion of cancer cells in response to mifepristone therapy using double fluorescence cytochemical labeling

Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that antiprogestin mifepristone impairs the growth and adhesion of highly metastatic cancer cells, and causes changes in their cellular morphology. In this study, w...

Authors: Sabrina J. Ritch, BreeAnn N. Brandhagen, Alicia A. Goyeneche and Carlos M. Telleria

Depletion of PCAT-1 in head and neck cancer cells inhibits tumor growth and induces apoptosis by modulating c-Myc-AKT1-p38 MAPK signalling pathways

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) represents one of the most common malignancies worldwide with a high mortality rate mainly due to lack of early detection markers, frequent association with metast...

Authors: Subhayan Sur, Hiroshi Nakanishi, Robert Steele and Ratna B. Ray

FKBPL and its peptide derivatives inhibit endocrine therapy resistant cancer stem cells and breast cancer metastasis by downregulating DLL4 and Notch4

Optimising breast cancer treatment remains a challenge. Resistance to therapy is a major problem in both ER- and ER+ breast cancer. Tumour recurrence after chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy leads to more ag...

Authors: Lana McClements, Stephanie Annett, Anita Yakkundi, Martin O’Rourke, Andrea Valentine, Nermeen Moustafa, Abdelrahim Alqudah, Bruno M. Simões, Fiona Furlong, Amy Short, Stuart A. McIntosh, Helen O. McCarthy, Robert B. Clarke and Tracy Robson

A leucine-rich diet modulates the mTOR cell signalling pathway in the gastrocnemius muscle under different Walker-256 tumour growth conditions

The exact signalling mechanism of the mTOR complex remains a subject of constant debate, even with some evidence that amino acids participate in the same pathway as used for insulin signalling during protein s...

Authors: Bread Cruz, André Oliveira, Gislaine Ventrucci and Maria Cristina Cintra Gomes-Marcondes

Differential effects of the Akt inhibitor MK-2206 on migration and radiation sensitivity of glioblastoma cells

Most tumor cells show aberrantly activated Akt which leads to increased cell survival and resistance to cancer radiotherapy. Therefore, targeting Akt can be a promising strategy for radiosensitization. Here, w...

Authors: Cholpon S. Djuzenova, Vanessa Fiedler, Simon Memmel, Astrid Katzer, Dmitri Sisario, Philippa K. Brosch, Alexander Göhrung, Svenja Frister, Heiko Zimmermann, Michael Flentje and Vladimir L. Sukhorukov

First-in-class immune-modulating small molecule Icaritin in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: preliminary results of safety, durable survival and immune biomarkers

With poor prognosis and limited treatment options for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), development of novel therapeutic agents is urgently needed. This single-arm phase I study sought to assess the saf...

Authors: Ying Fan, Shu Li, Xiaoyan Ding, Jian Yue, Jun Jiang, Hong Zhao, Rui Hao, Weiliang Qiu, Kezhen Liu, Ying Li, Shengdian Wang, Limin Zheng, Bin Ye, Kun Meng and Binghe Xu

Case-control Indian buffet process identifies biomarkers of response to Codrituzumab

Codrituzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against Glypican-3 (GPC3), which is expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), was tested in a randomized phase II trial in advanced HCC patients who had failed ...

Authors: Melanie F. Pradier, Bernhard Reis, Lori Jukofsky, Francesca Milletti, Toshihiko Ohtomo, Fernando Perez-Cruz and Oscar Puig

Targeting B-Raf inhibitor resistant melanoma with novel cell penetrating peptide disrupters of PDE8A – C-Raf

Recent advances in the treatment of melanoma that involve immunotherapy and B-Raf inhibition have revolutionised cancer care for this disease. However, an un-met clinical need remains in B-Raf inhibitor resist...

Authors: Connor M. Blair, Nicola M. Walsh, Bruce H. Littman, Frank W. Marcoux and George S. Baillie

Short-term stimulation with histone deacetylase inhibitor trichostatin a induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells without increasing cell invasion ability

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) may be one of the reasons for the failure in some clinical trials regarding histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs)-treated solid tumors. We investigated the effects of ...

Authors: Zhihua Shen, Xiaomin Liao, Zhongming Shao, Muyin Feng, Jianling Yuan, Sisi Wang, Siyuan Gan, Yanping Ha, Zhiwei He and Wei Jie

The garlic compound ajoene covalently binds vimentin, disrupts the vimentin network and exerts anti-metastatic activity in cancer cells

Garlic has been used for centuries for its flavour and health promoting properties that include protection against cancer. The vinyl disulfide-sulfoxide ajoene is one of the phytochemicals found in crushed clo...

Authors: Catherine H. Kaschula, Rosanna Tuveri, Ellen Ngarande, Kevin Dzobo, Christopher Barnett, Daniel A. Kusza, Lisa M. Graham, Arieh A. Katz, Mohamed Suhail Rafudeen, M. Iqbal Parker, Roger Hunter and Georgia Schäfer

The small molecule Bcl-2/Mcl-1 inhibitor TW-37 shows single-agent cytotoxicity in neuroblastoma cell lines

High-risk neuroblastoma with N-Myc amplification remains a therapeutic challenge in paediatric oncology. Antagonism of pro-death Bcl-2 homology (BH) proteins to pro-survival BH members such as Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 ...

Authors: Stefanie Klenke, Neval Akdeli, Patrick Stelmach, Lukas Heukamp, Johannes H. Schulte and Hagen S. Bachmann

Decitabine plus CLAG chemotherapy as a bridge to haploidentical transplantation in the setting of acute myeloid leukemia relapse after HLA-matched sibling transplantation: a case report

Patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) have a poor prognosis, with a 2-year survival rate of 14%. The optimal treatment for these patients...

Authors: Mengqi Jin, Yongxian Hu, Wenjun Wu, Yi Luo, Yamin Tan, Jian Yu, Aiyun Jin, Luxin Yang, He Huang and Guoqing Wei

Combined Casein Kinase II inhibition and epigenetic modulation in acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia

The tumor suppressor protein phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a key regulator of the PI3K/AKT pathway which is frequently altered in a variety of tumors including a subset of acute B-lymphoblastic leuk...

Authors: Anna Richter, Catrin Roolf, Mohamed Hamed, Yvonne Saara Gladbach, Sina Sender, Christoph Konkolefski, Gudrun Knübel, Anett Sekora, Georg Fuellen, Brigitte Vollmar, Hugo Murua Escobar and Christian Junghanss

Safety and antitumor activity of the anti–PD-1 antibody pembrolizumab in patients with advanced, PD-L1–positive papillary or follicular thyroid cancer

Treatment options for advanced thyroid cancer refractory to standard therapies are limited. The safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab were evaluated in patients with advanced differentiated thyroid cancer expre...

Authors: Janice M. Mehnert, Andrea Varga, Marcia S. Brose, Rahul R. Aggarwal, Chia-Chi Lin, Amy Prawira, Filippo de Braud, Kenji Tamura, Toshihiko Doi, Sarina A. Piha-Paul, Jill Gilbert, Sanatan Saraf, Pradeep Thanigaimani, Jonathan D. Cheng and Bhumsuk Keam

A high throughput screening system of coils for ELF magnetic fields experiments: proof of concept on the proliferation of cancer cell lines

It has been demonstrated that relatively small variations of the parameters of exposure to extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) can change significantly the outcome of experiments. Hence, either in...

Authors: Leonardo Makinistian, Eva Marková and Igor Belyaev

Encapsulated miR-200c and Nkx2.1 in a nuclear/mitochondria transcriptional regulatory network of non-metastatic and metastatic lung cancer cells

MicroRNAs are noncoding RNA molecules of ~ 22 nucleotides with diagnostic and therapeutic action [Curr Drug Targets, 2015. 16(12): p. 1381-403], affecting the expression of mRNAs involved in invasion, migratio...

Authors: Olga D’Almeida, Omar Mothar, Esther Apraku Bondzie, Yolande Lieumo, Laure Tagne, Sumeet Gupta, Thomas Volkert, Stuart Levine and Jean-Bosco Tagne

Efficacy and safety of RGB-02, a pegfilgrastim biosimilar to prevent chemotherapy-induced neutropenia: results of a randomized, double-blind phase III clinical study vs. reference pegfilgrastim in patients with breast cancer receiving chemotherapy

Treatment with recombinant human granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is accepted standard for prevention of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. RGB-02 (Gedeon Richter) is a proposed biosimilar to pegyl...

Authors: Zsuzsanna Kahan, Daniela Grecea, Martin Smakal, Sergei Tjulandin, Igor Bondarenko, Luca Perjesi, Andras Illes, Karoly Horvat-Karajz and Ildiko Aradi

Overcoming acquired resistance to HSP90 inhibition by targeting JAK-STAT signalling in triple-negative breast cancer

Due to the lack of effective therapies and poor prognosis in TNBC (triple-negative breast cancer) patients, there is a strong need to develop effective novel targeted therapies for this subtype of breast cance...

Authors: Nuramalina H. Mumin, Neele Drobnitzky, Agata Patel, Luiza Madia Lourenco, Fiona F. Cahill, Yanyan Jiang, Anthony Kong and Anderson J. Ryan

The JNK signaling pathway plays a key role in methuosis (non-apoptotic cell death) induced by MOMIPP in glioblastoma

Synthetic indolyl- pyridinyl- propenones (IPPs) induce methuosis, a form of non-apoptotic cell death, in glioblastoma and other cancer cell lines. Methuosis is characterized by accumulation of cytoplasmic vacu...

Authors: Zehui Li, Nneka E. Mbah, Jean H. Overmeyer, Jeffrey G. Sarver, Sage George, Christopher J. Trabbic, Paul W. Erhardt and William A. Maltese

Safety and efficacy of afatinib as add-on to standard therapy of gemcitabine/cisplatin in chemotherapy-naive patients with advanced biliary tract cancer: an open-label, phase I trial with an extensive biomarker program

To date, the cornerstone of treatment in patients with advanced or metastatic cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is systemic chemotherapy based on a combination of gemcitabine and a platinum derivative. Other therapeuti...

Authors: Markus Moehler, Annett Maderer, Anne Ehrlich, Friedrich Foerster, Arno Schad, Tanja Nickolay, Christian Ruckes, Arndt Weinmann, Visvakanth Sivanathan, Jens U. Marquardt, Peter Robert Galle, Marcus Woerns and Thomas Thomaidis

Shikonin inhibits cancer cell cycling by targeting Cdc25s

Shikonin, a natural naphthoquinone, is abundant in Chinese herb medicine Zicao (purple gromwell) and has a wide range of biological activities, especially for cancer. Shikonin and its analogues have been repor...

Authors: Shoude Zhang, Qiang Gao, Wei Li, Luwei Zhu, Qianhan Shang, Shuo Feng, Junmei Jia, Qiangqiang Jia, Shuo Shen and Zhanhai Su

Patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma who benefit from axitinib dose titration: analysis from a randomised, double-blind phase II study

A prospective, randomised phase II study demonstrated clinical benefit of axitinib dose titration in a subset of treatment-naïve patients treated with axitinib for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This analysi...

Authors: Yoshihiko Tomita, Hirotsugu Uemura, Mototsugu Oya, Nobuo Shinohara, Tomonori Habuchi, Yosuke Fujii, Yoichi Kamei, Yoshiko Umeyama, Angel H. Bair and Brian I. Rini

Anti-cancer effect of dung beetle glycosaminoglycans on melanoma

Dung beetle glycosaminoglycan is known to possess anti-aging activities. However, its anti-cancer mechanisms are not fully elucidated yet. The objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-cancer effect of ...

Authors: Mi Young Ahn, Ban Ji Kim, Ha Jeong Kim, Jang Mi Jin, Hyung Joo Yoon, Jae Sam Hwang and Kun-Koo Park

KRas4B-PDE6δ complex stabilization by small molecules obtained by virtual screening affects Ras signaling in pancreatic cancer

The GTPase KRas4B has been utilized as a principal target in the development of anticancer drugs. PDE6δ transports KRas4B to the plasma membrane, where it is released to activate various signaling pathways req...

Authors: Diana Casique-Aguirre, Paola Briseño-Díaz, Ponciano García-Gutiérrez, Claudia Haydée González-de la Rosa, Reyna Sara Quintero-Barceinas, Arturo Rojo-Domínguez, Irene Vergara, Luis Alberto Medina, José Correa-Basurto, Martiniano Bello, Rosaura Hernández-Rivas, María del RocioThompson-Bonilla and Miguel Vargas

A phase II trial of recombinant MAGE-A3 protein with immunostimulant AS15 in combination with high-dose Interleukin-2 (HDIL2) induction therapy in metastatic melanoma

HDIL-2 is approved for advanced melanoma based on its durable antitumor activity. MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapeutic (MAGE-A3 CI) is a recombinant MAGE-A3 protein combined with an immunostimulant adjuvant system...

Authors: Jennifer L. McQuade, Jade Homsi, Carlos A. Torres-Cabala, Roland Bassett, Rashmi Murthy Popuri, Marihella L. James, Luis M. Vence and Wen-Jen Hwu

Permeability changes and effect of chemotherapy in brain adjacent to tumor in an experimental model of metastatic brain tumor from breast cancer

Brain tumor vasculature can be significantly compromised and leakier than that of normal brain blood vessels. Little is known if there are vascular permeability alterations in the brain adjacent to tumor (BAT)...

Authors: Afroz S. Mohammad, Chris E. Adkins, Neal Shah, Rawaa Aljammal, Jessica I. G. Griffith, Rachel M. Tallman, Katherine L. Jarrell and Paul R. Lockman

ElectroMotive drug administration (EMDA) of Mitomycin C as first-line salvage therapy in high risk “BCG failure” non muscle invasive bladder cancer: 3 years follow-up outcomes

In case of high grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HG-NMIBC), intravesical BCG represents the first-line treatment; despite the “gold” standard therapy, up to 50% of patients relapse, needing radical cy...

Authors: Marco Racioppi, Luca Di Gianfrancesco, Mauro Ragonese, Giuseppe Palermo, Emilio Sacco and Pier Francesco Bassi

MEF2 plays a significant role in the tumor inhibitory mechanism of encapsulated RENCA cells via EGF receptor signaling in target tumor cells

Agarose encapsulated murine renal adenocarcinoma cells (RENCA macrobeads) are currently being investigated in clinical trials as a treatment for therapy-resistant metastatic colorectal cancer. We have previous...

Authors: Prithy C. Martis, Atira T. Dudley, Melissa A. Bemrose, Hunter L. Gazda, Barry H. Smith and Lawrence S. Gazda

EGF/EGFR upregulates and cooperates with Netrin-4 to protect glioblastoma cells from DNA damage-induced senescence

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most malignant central nervous system tumor. Alkylating agent, temozolomide (TMZ), is currently the first-line chemotherapeutic agent for GBM. However, the sensitivity of G...

Authors: Li Li, Yulun Huang, Yuge Gao, Tengfei Shi, Yunyun Xu, Huini Li, Marko Hyytiäinen, Jorma Keski-Oja, Qiuying Jiang, Yizhou Hu and Zhimin Du

Harnessing soft tissue sarcoma with low-dose pazopanib – a matter of blood levels

Pazopanib is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma and soft tissue sarcoma. Despite the high inter-patient variability in pharmacokinetic exposure, pazopanib is admini...

Authors: Stefanie L. Groenland, Daniela Katz, Alwin D. R. Huitema and Neeltje Steeghs

The presumed MTH1-inhibitor TH588 sensitizes colorectal carcinoma cells to ionizing radiation in hypoxia

The nudix family member enzyme MutT homologue-1 (MTH1) hydrolyses the oxidized nucleotides 8-oxo-dGTP and 2-hydroxy-dATP and thus prevents the incorporation of damaged nucleotides into nuclear and mitochondria...

Authors: Mosche Pompsch, Julia Vogel, Fabian Classen, Philip Kranz, George Iliakis, Helena Riffkin, Ulf Brockmeier and Eric Metzen

TRPM7 overexpression enhances the cancer stem cell-like and metastatic phenotypes of lung cancer through modulation of the Hsp90α/uPA/MMP2 signaling pathway

Waixenicin A, a bioactive extract of soft coral Sarcothelia edmondsoni, has been shown to be anti-neoplastic. However, its mechanisms of action remain unclear. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) and associated stemness fac...

Authors: Kai Liu, Shao-Hua Xu, Zhao Chen, Qing-Xin Zeng, Zhi-Jun Li and Zhou-Miao Chen

Acyclic retinoid and angiotensin-II receptor blocker exert a combined protective effect against diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis in diabetic OLETF rats

Insulin resistance (IR) is closely associated with the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Acyclic retinoid (ACR) targets retinoid X receptor α and reportedly prevents HCC recurrence in clinical pra...

Authors: Norihisa Nishimura, Kosuke Kaji, Mitsuteru Kitade, Yosuke Aihara, Shinya Sato, Kenichiro Seki, Yasuhiko Sawada, Hiroaki Takaya, Yasushi Okura, Hideto Kawaratani, Kei Moriya, Tadashi Namisaki, Akira Mitoro and Hitoshi Yoshiji

CAR-T bridging to allo-HSCT as a treatment strategy for relapsed adult acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia: a case report

Adults with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have a poor prognosis, especially in patients who relapsed within 6 months of complete remission 1 (CR1). Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantat...

Authors: Shupeng Wen, Zhiyun Niu, Lina Xing, Ying Wang, Hang Li, Na Kuang, Jianmin Luo, Xuejun Zhang and Fuxu Wang

Homoharringtonine interacts synergistically with bortezomib in NHL cells through MCL-1 and NOXA-dependent mechanisms

Interactions between the protein synthesis inhibitor homoharringtonine (HHT) and the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib were investigated in DLBCL and mantle cell lymphoma cells (MCL).

Authors: Tri Nguyen, Rebecca Parker, Yu Zhang, Elisa Hawkins, Maciej Kmieciak, William Craun and Steven Grant

Biosimilar filgrastim treatment patterns and prevention of febrile neutropenia: a prospective multicentre study in France in patients with solid tumours (the ZOHé study)

The ZOHé study was a prospective, non-interventional, multicentre study in France to assess the use of biosimilar filgrastim Zarzio® (Sandoz filgrastim) in routine clinical practice in patients at risk of neut...

Authors: Henri Roché, Jean-Christophe Eymard, Abderraouf Radji, Alain Prevost, Rafik Diab, Michele Lamuraglia, Ravaka-Fatoma Soumoudronga, Isabelle Gasnereau and Alain Toledano

Inotuzumab ozogamicin is effective in relapsed/refractory extramedullary B acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Extramedullary involvement of B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (EM-ALL) is a rare occurrence, characterized by dismal outcome and the absence of a defined and shared therapeutic approach. In the landscape o...

Authors: Luca Bertamini, Jacopo Nanni, Giovanni Marconi, Mariachiara Abbenante, Valentina Robustelli, Francesco Bacci, Antonella Matti, Stefania Paolini, Chiara Sartor, Silvia Lo Monaco, Maria Chiara Fontana, Stefano De Polo, Michele Cavo, Antonio Curti, Giovanni Martinelli and Cristina Papayannidis

Fatty acid binding protein 7 may be a marker and therapeutic targets in clear cell renal cell carcinoma

To identify potential therapeutic target in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), we performed a transcriptome analysis. Our analysis showed that fatty acid binding protein 7 (FABP7) has the highest mean di...

Authors: Kazuhiro Nagao, Nachi Shinohara, Frank Smit, Mirjam de Weijert, Sander Jannink, Yuji Owada, Peter Mulders, Egbert Oosterwijk and Hideyasu Matsuyama

Prophylactic intervention of probiotics (L.acidophilus, L.rhamnosus GG) and celecoxib modulate Bax-mediated apoptosis in 1,2-dimethylhydrazine-induced experimental colon carcinogenesis

Colorectal cancer has been found to be attenuated either with prophylactic manipulation of gut microbiome with probiotics or celecoxib, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug mainly by suppressing early pro-ca...

Authors: Leila Kaeid Sharaf, Mridul Sharma, Deepika Chandel and Geeta Shukla

Successful response to the combination of immunotherapy and chemotherapy in cholangiocarcinoma with high tumour mutational burden and PD-L1 expression: a case report

Cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, is a gastrointestinal cancer with limited therapeutic options and a poor outcome. Studies have revealed that some major driver genes are associated with cholangiocarcin...

Authors: Haibo Mou, Lanfang Yu, Qin Liao, Xuehua Hou, Yinfang Wu, Qiang Cui, Na Yan, Ruobing Ma, Lingjian Wang, Ming Yao and Kai Wang

Testing for minimal residual disease in adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Europe: a clinician survey

In acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the presence of minimal residual disease (MRD) after induction/consolidation chemotherapy is a strong prognostic factor for subsequent relapse and mortality. Accordingly,...

Authors: Arnaud Pigneux, Pau Montesinos, Ze Cong, Xinke Zhang, Anja K. Pownell, Heather Wieffer, Jan McKendrick and Monika Brüggemann

The 2018 Nobel Prize in medicine goes to cancer immunotherapy

Authors: Zong Sheng Guo

The small organic molecule C19 binds and strengthens the KRAS4b-PDEδ complex and inhibits growth of colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide; and in 40% of all cases, KRAS4b-activating mutations occur. KRAS4b is transported by phosphodiesterase-6δ (PDEδ) to the plasma membrane, where it ge...

Authors: Pedro Cruz-Nova, Michael Schnoor, José Correa-Basurto, Martiniano Bello, Paola Briseño-Diaz, Arturo Rojo-Domínguez, Carlos M. Ortiz-Mendoza, Jorge Guerrero-Aguirre, Francisco J. García-Vázquez, Rosaura Hernández-Rivas, María del Rocío Thompson-Bonilla and Miguel Vargas

Sorafenib and docosahexaenoic acid act in synergy to suppress cancer cell viability: a role of heme oxygenase 1

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid that has anticancer activity. Heme oxygenase 1 (HO-1) is a potential therapeutic target due to its cytoprotective activity in cancer ce...

Authors: Yang Jiao, Tanya Watts, Jing Xue, Bethany Hannafon and Wei-Qun Ding

Effects of FGFR gene polymorphisms on response and toxicity of cyclophosphamide-epirubicin-docetaxel-based chemotherapy in breast cancer patients

The chemotherapy resistance and toxicity of chemotherapy are major problems in breast cancer treatment. However, candidate biomarkers for predicting clinical outcomes and better prognosis remain lacking.

Authors: Lu Chen, Huijie Qi, Liudi Zhang, Haixia Li, Jie Shao, Haifei Chen, Mingkang Zhong, Xiaojin Shi, Ting Ye and Qunyi Li

Generation and characterization of MEK and ERK inhibitors- resistant non-small-cells-lung-cancer (NSCLC) cells

The RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK pathway is one of the most downregulated pathway in cancer. Inhibitors of RAF and MEK have established clinical use while ERK inhibitors recently faced the clinic. We aimed to generate resi...

Authors: Alice Iezzi, Elisa Caiola, Arianna Scagliotti and Massimo Broggini