|
|
| |
Please find attached the very first in a series of monthly e-bulletins aimed at keeping our donors informed and aware of the latest
advances achieved with your support.
We look forward to hearing your comments or questions.
Sincerely,
Michael Nierenberg
Chairman of the Board |
Samuel Waxman
Scientific Director |
|
Jonathan Licht & Ethan Dmitrovsky
Associate Scientific Directors |
Merle Duskin Kailas
Executive Director |
|
Breaking Discoveries from Samuel Waxman Cancer Research
Arsenic Revised as an Effective Cancer Treatment
|
Ethan Dmitrovsky, MD.
Associate Scientific Director, SWCRF
Andrew G. Wallace Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology
Chairman, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Dartmouth Medical School
|
Arsenic, an ancient compound used at the turn of the century for the treatment of leukemia in the US. It has
been part of Chinese Traditional Medicines for centuries. Today, arsenic has been revived as a therapy in the
West due, in part, to the efforts of SWCRF Institute Without Walls investigators.
In the latest development in the saga of arsenic, Dr. Dmitrovsky and colleagues at Dartmouth College, in a report in the January
issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute showed that arsenite (a form of the metal arsenic) selectively kills acute
promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells by causing a form of cell “suicide” in which digestive enzymes usually sequestered within the
cancer cell are released into the cell at large. Arsenic and its derivatives are now a part of the standard therapy of this form
of leukemia. Recent information indicates that the combination of the vitamin A derivative retinoic acid, arsenic and chemotherapy
may cure over 90% of these patients. Discovery of the mode of action of drugs like arsenic will lead the way towards broadening
the use of arsenic into other forms of cancer and can offer ideas that may increase the cure rate of APL to almost 100%.
Sutisak Kitareewan, B. D. Roebuck, Eugene Demidenko, Roger D. Sloboda, and Ethan Dmitrovsky. “Lysosomes and trivalent
arsenic treatment in acute promyelocytic leukemia.” JNCI (Journal of the National Cancer Institute), Oxford University Press,
3 January 2007; Volume 99: pages 41 - 52. http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org |
Collaborating for a Cure through the SWCRF Institute Without Walls
Learning How To Selectively Kill Cancer Cells |
Paul B. Fisher, Ph.D.
Professor of Clinical Pathology
Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
Jeffrey Settleman, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Molecular Therapeutics
Professor of Medicine
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Harvard Medical School
|
Drs. Settleman and Fisher, both grantees of the SWCRF Institute Without Walls became familiar with each
others work through the SWCRF Annual Scientific Review and Retreat. This led to a collaborative project recently
bringing first fruits in an article published in the Journal of Cellular Physiology.
Dr. Fisher, with long-term support from the SWCRF, discovered a gene known as MDA-7/IL-24 which when inserted into cancer cells
selectively kills the cells in part through stimulation of antiviral defenses. Dr. Settleman, a recent SWCRF grantee and his colleagues
discovered that a small chemical called gefitinib can be used as an effective treatment for lung cancer in a select group of lung cancer
patients. The cancer cells of these patients have mutation in a protein known as the EGFR. EGFR is a signaling molecule that regulates
cell growth. In this subset of 10-15% of patients with lung cancer, this signaling molecule is mutated and stuck in the "on" position,
resulting in an inappropriate signal, causing the cancer cell to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way. Working together Drs. Fisher and
Settleman showed that Lung cancer cells resistant to gefitimib can be rendered sensitive by adding treatment with MDA-7. MDA-7 is in
clinical trials and gefitimib is an FDA approved drug. Such studies can stimulate further clinical studies to extend the effectiveness of
geftinib and related drugs used in lung cancer treatment.
Luni Emdad, Irina V. Lebedeva, Zao-Zhong Su, Pankaj Gupta, Devanand Sarkar, Jeffrey Settleman, Paul B. Fisher.
"Combinatorial treatment of non-small-cell lung cancers with gefitinib and Ad.mda-7 enhances apoptosis-induction and reverses
resistance to a single therapy."
Journal of Cellular Physiology (Wiley-Liss, Inc.) Volume 210, pages 549-59, 2007. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com |
|
|
|