tyrosine kinase – Oral Cancer News

Temple researchers show targeted cancer drug may stunt heart’s ability to repair itself

Source: EurekaAlert! Date: November 6, 2012 (Philadelphia, PA) – Scientists for the first time have evidence showing how a widely used type of "targeted" cancer drug can be dangerous to the heart. Studying mice with the equivalent of a heart attack, researchers found that the drug sorafenib (Nexavar) – which inhibits proteins called tyrosine kinase receptors (RTKs), and is used in kidney and liver cancer treatment – can interfere with heart stem cell activity, affecting the heart's ability to repair itself after injury. The findings suggest that sorafenib and other similar drugs that target these kinds of protein receptors may raise the risk for heart attack for some cancer patients with underlying heart disease, as well as affect the heart's ability to repair damage. By understanding how these cancer drugs can affect the heart, scientists and clinicians may be able to devise new treatment strategies to lessen such potentially damaging effects of often vital cancer drugs. "The goal is not to take the drug off of the market – it's a very good and useful drug that cancer patients need. We're trying to understand how this cancer drug and others like it can affect the heart, and what types of individuals might be at risk for problems," said senior author Steven Houser, PhD, Professor and Chair of Physiology at Temple University School of Medicine and Director of Temple's Cardiovascular Research Center. "Our results are beginning to provide a clearer picture of some of the potential physiological mechanisms at play." Dr. [...]

Charlotte Parker2012-11-09T11:25:06-07:00November, 2012|Oral Cancer News|

Vandetanib Restores Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells’ Sensitivity to Cisplatin and Radiation In Vivo and In Vitro

Abstract Purpose: We investigated whether vandetanib, an inhibitor of the tyrosine kinase activities of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and rearranged during transfection (RET), could augment the antitumor activity of radiation with or without cisplatin in preclinical in vitro and in vivo models of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Experimental Design: OSC-19 and HN5 HNSCC cells that were cisplatin and radioresistant were treated with vandetanib, cisplatin, and radiation alone or in combination in vitro and in vivo using an orthotopic nude mouse model. Treatment effects were assessed using clonogenic survival assay, tumor volume, bioluminescence imaging, tumor growth delay, survival, microvessel density, tumor and endothelial cell apoptosis, and EGFR and Akt phosphorylation data. Results: Vandetanib plus cisplatin radiosensitized HNSCC cells in vitro and in vivo. The combination treatment with vandetanib, cisplatin, and radiation was superior to the rest of treatments (including the double combinations) in antitumoral effects, prolonging survival, decreasing cervical lymph node metastases in vivo. It also increased both tumor and tumor-associated endothelial cell apoptosis and decreased microvessel density in vivo. An analysis of tumor growth delay data revealed that vandetanib plus cisplatin enhanced radioresponse in vivo. All vandetanib-containing treatments inhibited EGFR and Akt phosphorylation in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: The addition of vandetanib to combination therapy with cisplatin and radiation was able to effectively overcome cisplatin and radioresistance in in vitro and in vivo models of HNSCC. Further study of this regimen in clinical trials may be warranted. Clin [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-04-04T12:36:09-07:00April, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Gefitinib shows promise as treatment for advanced head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma

Source: www.docguide.com Author: Louise Gagnon Gefitinib produces a significant response in patients with advanced head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) prior to standard treatment, according to a phase 2 study presented here at the 2nd World Congress of the International Academy of Oral Oncology (IAOO). "We want to shrink the tumour as much as we can prior to surgery, so the patient will have the best outcome," said Shirley Taylor, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, on July 9. Taylor noted that patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma on the head and neck face a poor prognosis with standard treatments of surgery and radiation, so clinicians are exploring other therapies to improve prognosis for this patient population. Since epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a tyrosine kinase that is overexpressed in cSCC, it was logical to use a compound that inhibits the catalytic activity of the tyrosine kinase, explained Taylor. "It is a more targeted therapy," noted Taylor. The study enrolled 23 patients, 22 of whom were evaluable for responses and toxicities to gefitinib. Patients received oral gefitinib 250 mg/day for 2 cycles of 30 days each and were evaluated for response via computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 15 days after therapy "If patients showed a response, they continued to receive therapy," explained Taylor. "If they showed stable disease, the dose was escalated to 500 mg per day. If they showed progression of disease, they were taken off the drug." [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-07-15T04:05:55-07:00July, 2009|Oral Cancer News|