Cancer Research Lab

In select cases, image-guided, percutaneous cryoablation is a safe and effective means of obliterating tumors in the kidney, according to a report this week at the 32nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology in Seattle.

The percutaneous approach is also “much cheaper, has a much quicker recovery time and a much shorter hospital stay” compared with laparoscopic surgery, Dr. J. Louis Hinshaw, of University of Wisconsin in Madison, said.

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Cellular autophagy appears to be a mechanism that the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib (Gleevec, Novartis) inhibits chronic myelogenous leukemia and may also inhibit other types of malignant cells, German researchers report in the March issue of Leukemia.

“Gleevec was considered as a targeted anticancer drug which is specific for only certain types of malignancies,” senior investigator Dr. Hermann M. Schaetzl said, “and which acts in stopping cancer growth. We describe a much broader effect of this compound which might be beneficial for all kind of tumors.”

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Imatinib interruption results in rapid progression in most patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors and cannot be recommended unless patients experience significant toxicity, French researchers report in the March 20th issue of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

“This trial shows that it is not possible to interrupt a targeted treatment — here imatinib– of cancer in the advanced phase, without exposing a patient to a high risk of rapid relapse,” lead investigator Dr. Jean-Yves Blay said.

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Brain cancer stem cells are maintained within vascular niches. Although these cells may be resistant to conventional treatment, preliminary studies suggest that antiangiogenic drugs can block tumor growth.

“Cancers share more properties of normal developing tissues than we may have appreciated,” Dr. Richard J. Gilbertson from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee said. “This work opens up new avenues for treatments, but suggests also that we need to work hard to define truly how cancers and normal tissues differ.”

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Exogenous granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), often given during chemotherapy to promote neutrophil proliferation, decreases bone mineral density and causes the proliferation of bone tumors in mice, Washington University investigators report in a Blood First Edition paper pre-published online December 27.

Using murine osteoclastic tumor models, Dr. Katherine Weilbaecher and her colleagues in St. Louis, Missouri, administered G-CSF or saline daily for 8 days. On the fifth day of G-CSF treatment, the investigators injected tumor cells. Another group of animals received G-CSF after tumor cell injection.

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When it comes to R&D all drugs are not created equal, especially oncologics. And an ACT workshop counts the ways.

By:Jan Koedam
Applied Clinical Trials

For a long time, drug development has been dominated by the urge to find yet a better drug to treat hypertension, hypercholesterolemia or heartburn. Big pharma companies were competing in the major primary care markets. And today, for every indication, more than a handful of blockbuster drugs are available. But now that reimbursement is more of an issue, with many generic products on the market featuring comparable effects, the industry has changed its focus toward more specialized care, like oncology.

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