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Since the 1940s, the treatment of advanced cancer has been based on administering maximal doses of non-specifically toxic drugs in the hope that cancer cells would be killed more effectively than normal cells. While this is occasionally successful, for most common cancers only a minority of patients experience any meaningful benefit. Unfortunately, nearly all treated patients experience toxicities, which range from unpleasant to life threatening. In recent years, however, our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of cancer has increased enormously. We now have a much deeper understanding of how intracellular signaling pathways that control critical cellular functions can become subverted by the genetic alterations arising in a cancer cell. In fact, we are now in a position to use this knowledge to design rational targeted therapeutic approaches that hold the promise of much greater efficacy with fewer side effects. In this volume, oncologists and scientists from academia, government, and industry have come together to provide insight into strategies to modulate signaling pathways, which are currently being translated from the laboratory to the clinic. These advances will hopefully usher in a new era in the treatment of cancer patients, and thus the goal of this volume is both to inform those interested in this field, and to inspire further contributions in this cutting edge area.
List of contents
Signaling Pathways in Cancer: 21st Century Approaches to Cancer Therapy.- Current And Next Generation Antimitotic Therapies In Cancer.- DNA Damage Checkpoint Signaling Pathways in Human Cancer.- Non-Receptor Tyrosine Kinases and their Roles in Cancer.- The Hedgehog Signaling Pathway in Cancer Pathogenesis and Therapy.- Wnt Signaling in Cancer Pathogenesis and Therapeutics.- STAT Signaling in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Cancer.- Protein Therapeutics in Oncology.- Index
Summary
In recent years, increasing evidence has suggested that abnormal activation of signaling pathways is a critical event in cancer pathogenesis. In particular, activation of these pathways can lead to inappropriate cellular survival, proliferation, pluripotency, invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Thus, understanding the mechanisms by which signaling pathways become subverted in a cancer cell can provide insight into critical events in cancer pathogenesis. Furthermore, as our ability to target specific molecular interactions advances, we now have the ability to design small molecules, protein therapeutics, and other forms of targeted therapies. By focusing on the specific molecular abnormalities in a cancer cell, these agents hold the potential to be much more effective and much less toxic than current cytotoxic therapies.
