(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- New research could change the way scientists make
cancer drugs.
Researchers discovered many more cancer target inhibiting agents could be
clinically effective than previously thought. Traditionally, scientists did not
utilize kinase inhibitor agents with short half-lives because it was assumed
they could not provide safe and effective treatment compared to agents with
prolonged half-lives.
However, in a study examining the relationship between depth and duration of
kinase inhibition with respect to killing cancer, researchers found cell-death
activation and the kinetics of cancer cell death were identical for both
transient and prolonged target inhibition therapies.
"Our results provide compelling rationale for the clinical development of
compounds capable of achieving potent kinase inhibition, irrespective of
biological half-life," lead study author Neil P. Shah, M.D., Ph.D., from the
University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, was quoted as saying.
"It should be possible to optimize individual patient doses, balancing target
inhibition with toxicity, in pursuit of the goal of rational personalized cancer
medicine."
SOURCE: Cancer Cell, 2008
