Being able to reliably identify those patients with the most aggressive cancers early via urine tests, and expediting aggressive therapeutic strategies, may significantly improve outcomes. The scientists believe that the validation of two urinary biomarkers could spell a new way of tailoring treatment…
Up to one in six patients with esophageal cancer were found to have EGFR duplication in their tumor cells and taking the drug gefitinib, which targets this fault, boosted their survival by up to six months, and sometimes beyond. This is the first treatment for advanced esophageal cancer shown to improve survival in patients whose initial course of chemotherapy treatment has failed. It is also the first time a targeted treatment of any kind has proved effective in this disease, although chemotherapy and some targeted drugs have shown benefit in the second line treatment of other cancers of the digestive system including stomach cancer…
Oncologists use erlotinib to treat lung cancers that have a mutation in a gene called epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The gene mutation causes EGFR to run like it has a stuck accelerator, and erlotinib blocks the overactive molecule. The study shows that while erlotinib effectively causes tumors to shrink — suggesting that the drug is helping — this drug also increases the aggressiveness of the tumor so that growth is accelerated when therapy ends. This study finds that this is due to a secondary and previously unknown effect of inhibiting EGFR…
Two studies, published in the journal OncoImmunology, identify new peptide vaccines and inhibitors that target the HER-3 and IGF-1R receptors. …
The EGF Receptor (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor, EGFR) is a protein which, as a transmembrane receptor, controls a multitude of vital processes in the cell. …
The findings are published in the August 1, 2014 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation. …
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140512155023.htm
source : http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/02/140219142357.htm
Mutations in the growth factor gene EGFR are present in about 10 to 15 percent of patients with the most common form of lung cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Most NSCLCs harboring these EGFR mutations, called activating mutations, respond to the EGFR inhibitor drugs erlotinib and gefitinib. A majority of such cancers, however, develop resistance to these drugs within about nine to 11 months. …
The study was published August 5, 2013, in Nature Genetics. "Cancers rely on driver genes to remain cancers, and driver genes are the best targets for therapy," said Antonio Iavarone, MD, professor of pathology and neurology at Columbia University Medical Center and a principal author of the study. "Once you know the driver in a particular tumor and you hit it, the cancer collapses. We think our study has identified the vast majority of drivers in glioblastoma, and therefore a list of the most important targets for glioblastoma drug development and the basis for personalized treatment of brain cancer." Personalized treatment could be a reality soon for about 15 percent of glioblastoma patients, said Anna Lasorella, MD, associate professor of pediatrics and of pathology & cell biology at CUMC. …