Cancer Drugs Losing Out: Pruning the Branches, Not Cutting the Trees

An oncologist puts the cancer patient on a targeted therapy, the cancer goes away, patient goes home. But, 6 months later, the cancer is back (relapsed) and is aggressive stage IV. Biologically, the cancer cells have mutated to bypass/ignore the expensive targeted therapy.

At the molecular level, the cancer cells are constantly mutating, evolving, and generating diversity. This phenomenon of cancer evolution is central to cancer relapse, tumor escape and therapeutic failure.

New research from the Institute of Cancer Research, UK, shows extreme diversity of cancer cell types in leukemia patients: multiple cancers within a cancer. 

Using canSAR Database to Learn About Cancer Drugs and Targets

Imagine that you heard about a groundbreaking hot new cancer drug on the evening news. And you are curious, and you want to find more about this drug. Where would you turn to? Google? 

Among the search engine hits will be a press release from the company and a multitude of news commentaries and blogposts, all various incarnations of the press release itself. These sources will have a summary of the best results from the Phase 3 clinical trial, promising (maybe self-congratulatory) statements from the CEO or CMO of the company, a paragraph on safety signals and usual disclaimers.

But what if you actually want to know more about the drug target, its biology, chemistry, structural biology, pharmacology, bioactivity (and experimental models) and all kinds of apparently boring (to the investment community) scientific data. 

This "mundane" data is generally scattered in journal articles, conferences abstracts and posters, and patent filings. Now there is an easier way to get a snapshot of this data: via a public database canSAR.

Common Mutations Drive 12 Different Cancer Types

Cancer types from leukemia to breast cancer, and bladder cancer to lung cancer are all driven by a common set of genes containing driver mutations. Researchers from The Cancer Genome Network (TCGN) sequenced and analyzed genomes of 3,281 tumors from 12 different cancer types and discovered 127 genes that were involved in the initiation or progression of these cancers. This research appears in the October 17, 2013, issue of the journal Nature. 

Cancer Meetings and Conferences 2013 (Archived)

Archived list below.

***For upcoming meetings list, go to page 

 http://www.missiontumor.com/p/upcoming-meeting-and-conferences.html

How does ARIAD's Ponatinib (Iclusig) Work

Mechanism of Action Series: Ponatinib

Ariad Pharmaceuticals' leukemia drug ponatinib has been in the news lately for major toxicity fears that can potentially derail its further clinical development. While these issues will be sorted out in coming months, it's a good time to review how does this drug work.

Ponatinib is a pan-inhibitor of native and T315I mutant forms of BCR-ABL kinase.

The Effect of US Congressional Tantrums on Science

Here is one snapshot of what their childish behavior can do. (Let's hope the next generation of congressmen and congresswomen are smarter than this bunch.)

How Does AR Antagonist ARN-509 Work

Mechanism of Action Series: ARN 509

ARN-509 is an androgen receptor signaling inhibitor currently in phase 2 clinical trial for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC).  How does ARN-509 work to block prostate cancer cells is described below.

FDA Approves Abraxane for Pancreatic Cancer

ABRAXANE® (generic name: nab-paclitaxel) was approved by the FDA as first-line therapy for the metastatic adenocarcinoma of the pancreas when used in combination with gemcitabine. The approval of ABRAXANE is a major development in pancreatic cancer care and is expected to replace gemcitabine alone as a new standard of care for pancreatic cancer. 

List of Inspirational Cancer Blogs at "Navigating Cancer" Website

Cancer can affect any organ but the underlying biology and signaling may have strong similarities. Thus one drug targeting a particular signaling pathway may work in multiple cancers.

But patients and their family often seek experiences that relate specifically to them. Someone who has kidney cancer would want to know how another kidney cancer patient is coping with such unexpected and unwanted diagnosis. They may be less interested in the experiences of those with stomach or colon cancer even though the molecular drivers may be similar.

BRCA Freed from Myriad's Patents, Supreme Court Rules

The Supreme Court in a 9-0 ruling invalidated Myriad's patents on BRCA opening up the field for cheaper testing for the breast cancer risk genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. Myriad was criticized for selling $3000 tests and blocking mon-n-pop University labs to run similar tests at fraction of the cost.