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View the Table of Contents for the June 2007 issue of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
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Diffuse brain invasion remains the most challenging issue for successful glioma therapy. By employing an ex vivo tumor implantation model, Coras et al. identified the PPAR-γ activator troglitazone as a potent drug to block glioma cell migration and brain infiltration. This anti-migratory property is PPAR-γ independent and could be attributed to transcriptional repression of TGF-β and reduced TGF-β release. Due to its capacity to counteract TGF-β signalling at clinically achievable doses, troglitazone and its derivatives may be considered for adjuvant therapy of malignant gliomas and other highly migratory tumor entities.
Zundelevich et al. Page 1765 Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Despite advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, survival rates have hardly changed in the last decade, and long-term survival rates remain extremely poor. Zundelevich et al. showed that the Ras inhibitor farnesylthiosalicylic acid (FTS, filarasib) inhibits proliferation of human lung cancer cells in vitro and that orally formulated filarasib inhibits lung cancer tumor growth in a nude mouse model. These results suggested that oral filarasib may be considered as a potential treatment for lung cancer therapy.
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Ikezoe et al. Page 1851 Aberrant expression of Aurora kinases occurs in solid tumors and is associated with aneuploidy and carcinogenesis. Ikezoe et al. found in this study that Aurora kinase A and B were aberrantly expressed in variety types of human leukemia cell lines as well as freshly isolated leukemia cells from individuals with acute myeloid leukemia. ZM447439, a novel selective Aurora kinase inhibitor, induced growth inhibition, caused accumulation of cells with 4N/8N DNA content and mediated apoptosis of human leukemia cells as measured by thymidine-uptake, cell cycle analysis, and annexin V staining, respectively. However, ZM447439 did not inhibit clonogenic growth of myeloid committed stem cells harvested from healthy normal volunteers. Thus, inhibition of Aurora kinases may be a promising treatment for individuals with leukemia.
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