A radical approach to cancer
Article Abstract:
Drugs are often derived from natural substances. The natural substances are modified in the laboratory to improve their therapeutic properties. K.C. Nicolaou and colleagues have recently modified the antibiotics of the esperamicin family, derived from the microorganism Actinomadura verrucosospora, and calicheamicin, derived from the microorganism Micromonospora echinospora dsp calichensis family. These modified antibiotics have potent antitumor properties and will be developed as anticancer drugs. The mechanism of action of these drugs is the separation of DNA (deoxyribose nucleic acid), which is the genetic material of cells, into two strands, thus preventing replication of the cells. These antibiotics do not bind directly to the bases of DNA, components of the DNA molecule. There is concern that the drugs can disrupt the entire DNA structure of the cell and therefore, be possible cancer-causing agents. However, the binding of the antibiotics appears to occur at specific sites in the DNA. These drugs can be used in therapy known as tumor-selective. An example of this is the attachment of the drug to an antibody molecule, which reacts specifically to the tumor cells and not to normal cells, and therefore, will attack only cancerous cells. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1991
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Coley's vaccine and TNF therapy
Article Abstract:
C.O. Starnes's comments on Coley's toxins and the use of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) to treat cancer went too far in disparaging TNF's effectiveness. In fact, recent clinical trials of high-dose TNF in isolated limb perfusion bear out TNF's value in treating cancer, particularly in the form of sarcomas, melanomas and carcinomas. Moreover, the selection of patients for TNF therapy should depend on parameters forecasting the vulnerability of the individual patients' cancers to the systemic toxicity of TNF.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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Coley's toxins
Article Abstract:
The use of cytokines as toxins to kill growing tumors is unlikely to be effective against the soft-tissue sarcomas that Coley attempted to treat. Tumor necrosis factor has proven to be a valuable therapy only when patients are immunocompetent. The difficulty is to determine the necessary level of immunogenicity present in the tumors to be treated. Coley's original anti-tumor toxins may offer promise in this regard.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
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