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Brain Cancer Study Explores Multi-Targeted Therapies
Targeted drugs such as imatinib (Gleevec) and erlotinib (Tarceva) have been tested against brain cancer, but few patients have benefited. A new study offers a possible explanation for the disappointing results and suggests that using the drugs in combination may be a more effective strategy against the deadly disease.
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FDA News |
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FDA approves Evista for breast cancer chemoprevention. See story. |
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The researchers found that brain cancer cells may simultaneously activate a number of proteins on the cell surface called receptor tyrosine kinases, or RTKs. These proteins relay growth-promoting signals into cells, sustaining their survival. RTKs have become popular drug targets because they are frequently overactive or mutated.
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Dr. Martin Abeloff
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In Memory of Dr. Martin Abeloff
On Friday, September 14, 2007, the cancer community lost one of its truly outstanding leaders. Dr. Martin Abeloff, who directed the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins University for the last 15 years, died after a year-long battle with leukemia.
He was among the finest clinician/researchers I have ever met. His legacy will be marked by his personal success as a leader in translational research, particularly with regard to the adjuvant treatment of breast cancer. Dr. Abeloff also was a proponent of cancer prevention and control research, establishing a formal program at Kimmel for research in early disease biomarkers and disease surveillance.
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The NCI Cancer Bulletin is produced by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). NCI, which was established in 1937, leads the national effort to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer. Through basic, clinical, and population-based biomedical research and training, NCI conducts and supports research that will lead to a future in which we can identify the environmental and genetic causes of cancer, prevent cancer before it starts, identify cancers that do develop at the earliest stage, eliminate cancers through innovative treatment interventions, and biologically control those cancers that we cannot eliminate so they become manageable, chronic diseases.
For more information on cancer, call 1-800-4-CANCER or visit http://www.cancer.gov.
NCI Cancer Bulletin staff can be reached at ncicancerbulletin@mail.nih.gov. |
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