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Anticancer Chemotherapy (anticancer + chemotherapy)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	40%
Chemistry	40%

Selected Abstracts

Prodrug Strategies in Anticancer Chemotherapy

CHEMMEDCHEM, Issue 1 2008
Felix Kratz Dr.
Abstract The majority of clinically approved anticancer drugs are characterized by a narrow therapeutic window that results mainly from a high systemic toxicity of the drugs in combination with an evident lack of tumor selectivity. Besides the development of suitable galenic formulations such as liposomes or micelles, several promising prodrug approaches have been followed in the last decades with the aim of improving chemotherapy. In this review we elucidate the two main concepts that underlie the design of most anticancer prodrugs: drug targeting and controlled release of the drug at the tumor site. Consequently, active and passive targeting using tumor-specific ligands or macromolecular carriers are discussed as well as release strategies that are based on tumor-specific characteristics such as low pH or the expression of tumor-associated enzymes. Furthermore, other strategies such as ADEPT (antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapy) and the design of self-eliminating structures are introduced. Chemical realization of prodrug approaches is illustrated by drug candidates that have or may have clinical importance. [source]

Pharmacogenetics of the neurodevelopmental impact of anticancer chemotherapy

DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEW, Issue 3 2008
Philippe Robaey
Abstract Pharmacogenetics holds the promise of minimizing adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes of cancer patients by identifying patients at risk, enabling the individualization of treatment and the planning of close follow-up and early remediation. This review focuses first on methotrexate, a drug often implicated in neurotoxicity, especially when used in combination with brain irradiation. The second focus is on glucocorticoids that have been found to be linked to adverse developmental effects in relation with the psychosocial environment. For both examples, we review how polymorphisms of genes encoding enzymes involved in specific mechanisms of action could moderate adverse neurodevelopmental consequences, eventually through common final pathways such as oxidative stress. We discuss a multiple hit model and possible strategies required to rise to the challenge of this integrative research. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2008;14:211,220. [source]

Enzymatic oxidation products of spermine induce greater cytotoxic effects on human multidrug-resistant colon carcinoma cells (LoVo) than on their wild-type counterparts

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 1 2002
Annarica Calcabrini
Abstract The occurrence of resistance to cytotoxic agents in tumor cells, associated with several phenotypic alterations, is one of the major obstacles to successful anticancer chemotherapy. A new strategy to overcome MDR of human cancer cells was studied, using BSAO, which generates cytotoxic products from spermine, H2O2 and aldehyde(s). The involvement of these products in causing cytotoxicity was investigated in both drug-sensitive (LoVo WT) and drug-resistant (LoVo DX) colon adenocarcinoma cells. Evaluation of clonogenic cell survival showed that LoVo DX cells are more sensitive than LoVo WT cells. Fluorometric assay and treatments performed in the presence of catalase demonstrated that the cytotoxicity was due mainly to the presence of H2O2. Cytotoxicity was eliminated in the presence of both catalase and ALDH. Transmission electron microscopic observations showed more pronounced mitochondrial modifications in drug-resistant than in drug-sensitive cells. Mitochondrial functionality studies performed by flow cytometry after JC-1 labeling revealed basal hyperpolarization of the mitochondrial membrane in LoVo DX cells. After treatment with BSAO and spermine, earlier and higher mitochondrial membrane depolarization was found in LoVo DX cells than in drug-sensitive cells. In addition, higher basal ROS production in LoVo DX cells than in drug-sensitive cells was detected by flow-cytometric analysis, suggesting increased mitochondrial activity in drug-resistant cells. Our results support the hypothesis that mitochondrial functionality affects the sensitivity of cells to the cytotoxic enzymatic oxidation products of spermine, which might be promising anticancer agents, mainly against drug-resistant tumor cells. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Quinoxaline 1,4-dioxides: Hypoxia-selective therapeutic agents

MOLECULAR CARCINOGENESIS, Issue 4 2002
Mona Diab-Assef
Abstract A problem that confronts clinicians in the treatment of cancer is the resistance of hypoxic tumors to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Thus, the development of new drugs that are toxic to hypoxic cells found in solid tumors is an important objective for effective anticancer chemotherapy. We recently showed that the heterocyclic aromatic N-oxides, quinoxaline 1,4-dioxides (QdNOs), are cytotoxic to tumor cells cultured under hypoxia. In this study, we evaluated the hypoxia-selective toxicity of four diversely substituted QdNOs and determined their effect on the expression of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) 1, in the human colon cancer cell line T-84. The various QdNOs were found to possess a 50- to 100-fold greater cytotoxicity to T-84 cells cultured under hypoxia compared with oxia. Interestingly, the hypoxia cytotoxicity ratio (HCR), the ratio of equitoxic concentrations of the drug under aerobic/anoxic conditions, was highly structure related and depended on the nature of the substituents on the QdNO heterocycle. The most cytotoxic 2-benzoyl-3-phenyl-6,7-dichloro derivative of QdNO (DCQ) was potent at a dose of 1 ,M with an HCR of 100 and significantly reduced the levels of HIF-1, transcript and protein. The 2-benzoyl-3-phenyl derivative (BPQ) had a hypoxia potency of 20 ,M and an HCR of 40. By contrast, the 2-aceto-3-methyl and the 2,3-tetramethylene (TMQ) derivatives of QdNO were much less cytotoxic under hypoxia (HCRs of 8.5 and 6.5, respectively) and reduced the expression of HIF-1, mRNA to a much lesser extent. Because the nonchlorinated analogue BPQ did not demonstrate behavior similar to that of DCQ, we hypothesize that the C-6, C-7-chlorine of DCQ might play a significant role in the selective hypoxic cytotoxicity of the drug. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Proteome analysis of apoptosis signaling by S -trityl- L -cysteine, a potent reversible inhibitor of human mitotic kinesin Eg5

PROTEINS: STRUCTURE, FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, Issue 2 2008
Frank Kozielski
Abstract Mitotic kinesins represent potential drug targets for anticancer chemotherapy. Inhibitors of different chemical classes have been identified that target human Eg5, a kinesin responsible for the establishment of the bipolar spindle. One potent Eg5 inhibitor is S -trityl- L -cysteine (STLC), which arrests cells in mitosis and exhibits tumor growth inhibition activity. However, the underlying mechanism of STLC action on the molecular level is unknown. Here, cells treated with STLC were blocked in mitosis through activation of the spindle assembly checkpoint as shown by the phosphorylated state of BubR1 and the accumulation of mitosis specific phosphorylation on histone H3 and aurora A kinase. Using live cell imaging, we observed prolonged mitotic arrest and subsequent cell death after incubation of GFP-,-tubulin HeLa cells with STLC. Activated caspase-9 occurred before cleavage of caspase-8 leading to the accumulation of the activated executioner caspase-3 suggesting that STLC induces apoptosis through the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Proteome analysis following STLC treatment revealed 33 differentially regulated proteins of various cellular processes, 31 of which can be linked to apoptotic cell death. Interestingly, four identified proteins, chromobox protein homolog, RNA-binding Src associated in mitosis 68,kDa protein, stathmin, and translationally controlled tumor protein can be linked to mitotic and apoptotic processes. [source]