Expert opinion on biological therapy
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For many years the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has been the premier meeting in clinical oncology, and one that is closely scrutinised by Wall Street and international investors because of the economic significance of cancer therapies to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The area of biologicals and targeted therapies exploded in the late 1990s after the blockbuster results with the monoclonal antibody rituximab in the treatment of lymphoma. Although historically a somewhat conservative organisation that is still closely tied to classical cytotoxic chemotherapy, ASCO has been able to integrate various areas of biological therapy into its scope of clinical activity. ⋯ There were 10 papers chosen for plenary presentations and many other key papers were presented at other oral abstract sessions and poster discussion session that were organised by tumour type. In addition to key papers submitted by specific tumour type, for this year's meeting there were 103 abstracts published in the session entitled 'Developmental Therapeutics: Immunotherapy', and 218 in the session entitled Developmental Therapeutics: Molecular Targets', for a total of 321 biological therapy abstracts compared with only 125 abstracts for the session entitled 'Developmental Therapeutics: Cytotoxic Therapy'. This meeting review is organised by biotherapy modality rather than tumour type.
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Expert Opin Biol Ther · Jul 2005
ReviewEndogenous morphine: opening new doors for the treatment of pain and addiction.
Nitric oxide (NO) signalling is at the forefront of intense research interest because its many effects remain controversial and seemingly contradictory. This paper examines its role as a potential mediator of pain and tolerance. Within this context discussion covers endogenous morphine, documenting its ability to be made in animal tissues, including nervous tissue, and in diverse animal phyla. ⋯ Importantly, this mu opiate receptor subtype is morphine-selective and opioid peptide-insensitive, further highlighting the presence of morphinergic signalling coupled to NO release. These findings provide novel insights into pain and tolerance as morphinergic signalling exhibits many similarities with NO actions. Taken together, a select morphinergic signalling system utilising NO opens the gate for the development of novel pharmaceuticals and/or the use of old pharmaceuticals in new ways.
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Expert Opin Biol Ther · Jun 2005
A monoclonal antibody as an effective therapeutic agent in breast cancer: trastuzumab.
Trastuzumab (Herceptin; Genentech, Inc., CA, USA) is a humanized monoclonal antibody developed to target the HER-2/neu receptor, which is overexpressed in 20 - 25% of breast carcinomas. Clinical studies showed that trastuzumab is effective as single-agent therapy and that it has greater antitumour activity in combination with chemotherapy than chemotherapy alone in metastatic breast cancer. The indication for trastuzumab monotherapy and the combination with various chemotherapy agents is country-specific and is largely based on trials of efficacy and safety. ⋯ Trastuzumab is generally well-tolerated. Cardiotoxicity is the main concern; thus, monitoring of cardiac function is recommended. Ongoing trials investigate the role of trastuzumab in the adjuvant and neoadjuvant settings.
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Cell therapy to treat neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury (SCI) is in its infancy. However, the development of cellular strategies that would replace or be used as an adjunct to existing pharmacological treatments for neuropathic pain have progressed tremendously over the past 20 years. The earliest cell therapy studies for pain relief tested adrenal chromaffin cells from rat or bovine sources, placed in the subarachnoid space, near the spinal cord pain- processing pathways. ⋯ These technologies have been modelled with a variety of murine cell lines, derived from embryonic adrenal medulla or CNS brainstem, in which cells are transplanted, which downregulate their proliferative, oncogenic phenotype either before or after transplant. An alternative approach for existing human cell lines is the use of neural or adrenal precursors, in which the antinociceptive properties are induced by in vitro treatment with molecules that move the cells to an irreversible neural or chromaffin, and non-oncogenic, phenotype. Although such human cell lines are at an early stage of investigation, their clinical antinociceptive potential is significant given the daunting problem of difficult-to-treat neuropathic SCI pain.
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Expert Opin Biol Ther · Jul 2004
ReviewBone engineering by controlled delivery of osteoinductive molecules and cells.
Bone regeneration can be enhanced or accelerated by the delivery of osteogenic signalling factors or bone forming cells. These factors have commonly provided benefit when retained at the defect site with a delivery vehicle formed from natural or synthetic materials. Growth factors can be directly delivered as recombinant proteins or expressed by genetically modified cells to induce bone formation. ⋯ Carriers utilised for the delivery of osteoinductive material allow for a prolonged presentation at the repair site and the timing of presentation can be readily adjusted to correspond to the extent necessary for bone regeneration. This review examines some of the recent developments in delivery systems used to manage the presentation of these factors at the desired site. Moreover, the authors provide suggestions for continued progress in bone regeneration.