Category Archives: Resistance

Pancreatic cancer – early detection, immune response, and infection-based resistance

Approximately 1.6 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at some point during their lifetime. In 2014, an estimated 64,668 patients were living with the disease. The five-year survival for pancreatic cancer is 8.2% and it is projected to be the second leading cause of death due to cancer (behind lung cancer) in the US by the year 2030. For good reason, then, November is Pancreatic Awareness Month. Several recent research items are of particular interest to us. Continue reading

Interferon alpha gene therapy for refractory superficial bladder cancer in Phase III study

Valstar (valrubicin), the last drug approved for the treatment of superficial bladder cancer that is refractory to front-line therapy with BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guerin), entered the market in 1998. The registration study for Valstar demonstrated a twenty percent complete response rate three months following six weekly intravesical (transurethral administration into the bladder) instillations of the novel anthracycline in patients with BCG-refractory carcinoma in situ of the bladder. Continue reading

New data with temozolomide plus radiation for brain cancers

The results of two studies have demonstrated that the use of temozolomide (TMZ) plus radiation increases disease-free and overall survival in patients with glioblastoma and a low grade glioma called anaplastic glioma. Continue reading

Rociletinib for Resistant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients with EGFR T790M Mutation – Anthony J. Meglio, Contributor

There are two major subtypes of lung cancer: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 85% of all cases,  and Small Cell Lung Cancer (SMLC).  About 60% of NSCLC are unresectable at diagnosis, hence, the poor prognosis – ten to twelve months survival when treated with platinum-based chemotherapy.  Treatment options are evaluated based on the histologic subtype and the presence of mutations to determine the the best combination of molecular therapies for treatment. Ten to twenty percent of patients with NSCLC have a mutated epidermal growth factor receptor, most commonly. a deletion in the in-frame of exon 19 (around amino acid 747 to 752) or a L858R point mutation of exon 21. On June 1, 2016, the FDA approved the first blood test (liquid biopsy) companion diagnostic to determine whether these mutations are present. Continue reading

Lung Cancer Drug for Patients with Resistant T790 EGFR Mutation

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) receives signals from outside the cell that promote cell division and block apoptosis, leading to proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Continue reading

Attacking Brain Cancer in its Hypoxic Environment

As tumors grow and become unresponsive to external cellular signals, the level of oxygen in the masses decreases; mutated cells, those with malfunctioning p53, grow and thrive greater than 0.2 mm from the blood supply. Continue reading

Autophagy inhibitors for resistant cancers

Autophagy is a process by which cells that are under stress and deprived of nutrients pause to recycle themselves in order to maintain viability.  Autophagosomes comprised of cellular organelles are formed, followed by Lysosomal destruction; the cell then uses the substrates for synthesis and reconstitution.  Cells in autophagy do not replicate… Continue reading