Rational therapeutic intervention in cancer: kinases as drug targets. |
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| Authors: | Charles L Sawyers |
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| Institution: | 11-934 Factor Building, University of California, Los Angeles Division of Hematology and Oncology, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90095-1678, USA. csawyers@mednet.ucla.edu |
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| Abstract: | Landmark clinical studies of new drugs developed to target specific forms of cancer were reported in 2001. Herceptin, a monoclonal antibody against the Her2/neu receptor tyrosine kinase, prolonged the survival of women with Her-2/neu positive metastatic breast cancer, when combined with chemotherapy. STI-571, a small molecule inhibitor of the Bcr-Abl, c-kit and platelet derived growth factor receptor tyrosine kinases, produced dramatic clinical responses in patients with Bcr-Abl positive chronic myeloid leukemia and c-kit positive gastrointestinal stromal tumors. These examples have galvanized the cancer research community to extend kinase-inhibitor therapy to other cancers. |
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