Correspondence: william J Gradishar robert H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 676 North St. Clair, Suite 850, Chicago, iL, 60611, USA Tel +1 312-695-4541 Fax +1 312-695-6189 email [email protected] Abstract: Despite the activity of standard chemotherapies in advanced breast cancer, disease progression remains inevitable. Most pat...

The intermolecular forces between anti–cancer molecules such as Cisplatin, Carboplatin, Oxaliplatin, Nedaplatin, Lobaplatin, Heptaplatin, Dicycloplatin, Eleutherobin, Epothilone B, Discodermolide and Taxol (Figures 1 and 2) and tumor multiple organs or tissues are of great importance in many areas of science including medicine, chemotherapy, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutical che...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to determine the maximum tolerated dose, toxicity, and pharmacokinetics of BMS-247550 administered as a 1-h i.v. infusion every 3 weeks. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN Patients with advanced solid malignancies were premedicated and treated with escalating doses of BMS-247550. Blood sampling was performed to characterize the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of B...

We previously identified the transcription factor ZNF217 (human) / Zfp217 (mouse) as an oncogene and prognostic indicator of reduced survival, increased metastasis, and reduced response to therapy in breast cancer patients. Here we investigated the role of Zfp217 in chemotherapy resistance. Preclinical animal models of Zfp217 overexpression were treated with a combination therapy of the microtu...

BACKGROUND Patients with glioblastoma (GBM) inevitably develop recurrent or progressive disease after initial multimodal treatment and have a median survival of 6-9 months from time of progression. To date, there is no accepted standard treatment for GBM relapse or progression. Patupilone (EPO906) is a novel natural microtubule-stabilizing cytotoxic agent that crosses the blood-brain barrier an...

Most investigators would agree that the ideal chemotherapeutic agent should be 1) directed at a validated target; 2) potent, preferably active at nanomolar or subnanomolar concentrations; 3) schedule independent, even active in noncycling cells; 4) active against drug-resistant cells; and 5) less toxic or ideally not toxic to normal cells. In this issue of the Journal, Leoni et al. (1) suggest ...

PURPOSE Vinca alkaloids, agents that cause depolymerization of microtubules, are highly active in treatment of many pediatric cancers. In contrast, taxanes, agents that stabilize microtubules, are far less effective against the same cancer types. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the antitumor activity of ixabepilone, an epothilone B derivative representing a new class of microtu...

The blaring theme of the William Tell Overture, with trumpet fanfare, and its “off-to-the-races” tempo harkens one of my favorite TV shows: The Lone Ranger. In fact, the stirring theme song was known to me only as “The Lone Ranger,” knowing nothing about Gioacchino Rossini or opera. The Lone Ranger, a masked man played by Clayton Moore, somewhat of a paradox and a mystery because only bandits w...

BACKGROUND Sagopilone, the first fully synthetic epothilone, has shown promising preclinical activity in tumour models. This open-label randomised phase II study investigated two infusion schedules of sagopilone in women with ovarian cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Women with ovarian cancer recurring within 6 months of end of last platinum-containing treatment received sagopilone 16 mg/m(2) as a...

To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the actions of Taxol and the functionally related molecule epothilone B (EpoB), we have analyzed the gene expression profiles in A549 cells in response to increasing concentrations of these microtubule-stabilizing drugs. An almost identical expression pattern was observed in cells treated with either Taxol or EpoB. Low concentrations of the drugs i...