Tag Archives: mek

Combatting drug resistance for melanoma patients

Scientists have made significant strides identifying important molecules that contribute to melanoma growth and metastases, such as the proteins BRAF and MEK. Therapeutic agents that target these molecules have shown promise in the clinic, and many patients have significant reductions in tumor growth and tumor burden. “While targeted therapy drugs, such as BRAF and MEK inhibitors, have been associated with impressive responses in melanoma patients, most patients will eventually fail therapy,” said Keiran Smalley, Ph.D., associate member of the Cancer Biology and Evolution Program at Moffitt. Tumors can develop different resistance mechanisms and adapt to targeted agents in order to survive and continue to grow. …

New combination therapy developed for multiple myeloma

While several drugs are effective against multiple myeloma, including the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib, multiple myeloma cells are often able to survive by increasing the production of a protein known as Mcl-1. Mcl-1 regulates a number of processes that promote cell survival and has been implicated in resistance to anti-myeloma drugs that were initially effective. However, a team of researchers led by Xin-Yan Pei, M.D., Ph.D., and Steven Grant, M.D., recently published the findings of a study in the journal PLoS ONE demonstrating that a novel drug combination both reduces Mcl-1 expression and disrupts its interactions with other proteins to effectively kill multiple myeloma cells. …