scholarly journals Lights and Shadows in Immuno-Oncology Drug Development

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 691
Author(s):  
Milana Bergamino Sirvén ◽  
Sonia Pernas ◽  
Maggie C. U. Cheang
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Late Phase ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Successful Outcome ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Clinical Trial Designs ◽  
Oncology Drug Development ◽  
Critical Aspects

The rapidly evolving landscape of immuno-oncology (IO) is redefining the treatment of a number of cancer types. IO treatments are becoming increasingly complex, with different types of drugs emerging beyond checkpoint inhibitors. However, many of the new drugs either do not progress from phase I-II clinical trials or even fail in late-phase trials. We have identified at least five areas in the development of promising IO treatments that should be redefined for more efficient designs and accelerated approvals. Here we review those critical aspects of IO drug development that could be optimized for more successful outcome rates in all cancer types. It is important to focus our efforts on the mechanisms of action, types of response and adverse events of these novel agents. The use of appropriate clinical trial designs with robust biomarkers of response and surrogate endpoints will undoubtedly facilitate the development and subsequent approval of these drugs. Further research is also needed to establish biomarker-driven strategies to select which patients may benefit from immunotherapy and identify potential mechanisms of resistance.

scholarly journals The KRAS G12C mutation in NSCLC: from target to resistance

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Addeo ◽  
Giuseppe Luigi Banna ◽  
Alex Friedlaender
Keyword(s):  
Lung Cancer ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Relative Survival ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Driver Mutations ◽  
Kras Mutations ◽  
Secondary Resistance ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Oncogenic Driver

Lung cancer represents the most common form of cancer accounting for 1.8 million deaths globally in 2020.The 5-year relative survival rate for lung cancer is lower than many other leading cancer types. Over the last decade the treatment for advanced and metastatic non small cell lung cancer have dramatically improved due to the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors and the identification of targetable driver mutations. Recently, potentially effective inhibitors of a hitherto untargetable oncogenic driver mutation in NSCLC, Kirsten Rat Sarcoma (KRAS) have been developed. KRAS mutations are found in 20-25% of NSCLC and represent the most frequent mutation. The mutation is almost exclusively detected in adenocarcinoma and is found among smokers 90% of the time. Along with the development of new drugs that have been showing promising activity, resistance mechanisms have begun to be clarified. The aim of this review is to unwrap the biology of KRAS in NSCLC with a specific focus on primary and secondary resistance mechanisms and their possible clinical implications.

scholarly journals Rational design and development of HDAC inhibitors for breast cancer treatment

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepansh Mody ◽  
Julie Bouckaert ◽  
Savvas N. Savvides ◽  
Vibha Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Breast Cancer ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Histone Deacetylases ◽  
Rational Design ◽  
Hdac Inhibitors ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Breast Cancers ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Structural Insights

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer amongst females across the globe and with over 2 million new cases reported in 2018, it poses huge economic burden to the already dwindling public health. A dearth of therapies in the pipeline to treat triple-negative breast cancers, and acquisition of resistance against existing line of treatments urges the need to strategize novel therapeutics in order to add new drugs to the pipeline. HDAC inhibitors (HDACi) is one such class of small molecule inhibitors that target histone deacetylases to bring about chromosomal remodelling and normalize dysregulated gene expression that marks breast cancer progression. Objective: While four HDACi have been approved by the FDA for treatment of different cancer types, no HDACi is specifically earmarked for clinical management of breast cancer. Owing to the differential HDAC expression pertaining to different types of breast cancers, isoform-selective HDAC inhibitors need to be discovered. Conclusion: This review attempts to set the stage for rational structure-based discovery of isoform-selective HDACi by providing structural insights into different HDACs and their catalytic folds based on their classes and individual landscape. Development of inhibitors in accordance with the differential expression of HDAC isoforms exhibited in breast cancer cells is a promising strategy to rationally design selective and effective inhibitors, adopting a ‘personalized-medicine’ approach.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Basics and Challenges

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (17) ◽  
pp. 3009-3025 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bin Li ◽  
Ho Lam Chan ◽  
Pingping Chen
Keyword(s):  
Immune Checkpoint ◽  
Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Complete Response ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Mutation Status ◽  
Anti Cancer ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Shed Light

Cancer is one of the most deadly diseases in the modern world. The last decade has witnessed dramatic advances in cancer treatment through immunotherapy. One extremely promising means to achieve anti-cancer immunity is to block the immune checkpoint pathways – mechanisms adopted by cancer cells to disguise themselves as regular components of the human body. Many review articles have described a variety of agents that are currently under extensive clinical evaluation. However, while checkpoint blockade is universally effective against a broad spectrum of cancer types and is mostly unrestricted by the mutation status of certain genes, only a minority of patients achieve a complete response. In this review, we summarize the basic principles of immune checkpoint inhibitors in both antibody and smallmolecule forms and also discuss potential mechanisms of resistance, which may shed light on further investigation to achieve higher clinical efficacy for these inhibitors.

Immunotherapy and potential predictive biomarkers in the treatment of neuroendocrine neoplasia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghui Xu ◽  
Yuhao Wang ◽  
Hushan Zhang ◽  
Xueke She ◽  
Jianjun Yang
Keyword(s):  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Treatment Options ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
The Body ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Ablative Therapies ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
New Treatment ◽  
Well Differentiated

Neuroendocrine neoplasias (NENs) are a heterogeneous group of rare tumors scattered throughout the body. Surgery, locoregional or ablative therapies as well as maintenance treatments are applied in well-differentiated, low-grade NENs, whereas cytotoxic chemotherapy is usually applied in high-grade neuroendocrine carcinomas. However, treatment options for patients with advanced or metastatic NENs are limited. Immunotherapy has provided new treatment approaches for many cancer types, including neuroendocrine tumors, but predictive biomarkers of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in the treatment of NENs have not been fully reported. By reviewing the literature and international congress abstracts, we summarize the current knowledge of ICIs, potential predicative biomarkers in the treatment of NENs, implications and efficacy of ICIs as well as biomarkers for NENs of gastroenteropancreatic system, lung NENs and Merkel cell carcinoma in clinical practice.

Predictivity/Translatability of Toxicities Observed in Nonclinical Toxicology Studies to Clinical Safety Outcomes in Drug Development: Case Examples

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-150
Author(s):  
Nicola J. Stagg ◽  
Hanan N. Ghantous ◽  
Robert Roth ◽  
Kenneth L. Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
Clinical Studies ◽  
Early Termination ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Clinical Safety ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Palm Springs ◽  
Starting Dose ◽  
Good Concordance

Nonclinical toxicology studies are conducted to characterize the potential toxicities and establish a safe starting dose for new drugs in clinical studies, but the question remains as to how predictable/translatable the nonclinical safety findings are to humans. In many cases, there is good concordance between nonclinical species and patients. However, there are cases for which there is a lack of predictivity or translatability that led to early termination of clinical studies due to unanticipated toxicities or early termination of programs before making it to the clinic due to unacceptable nonclinical toxicities assumed to be translatable. A few case examples of safety findings that are translatable versus safety findings that are not translatable and why they are not translateable were presented as a symposium at the 38th Annual Meeting of the American College of Toxicology in Palm Springs, California, and are discussed in this article.

scholarly journals Cathepsin L plays a key role in SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans and humanized mice and is a promising target for new drug development

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao-Miao Zhao ◽  
Wei-Li Yang ◽  
Fang-Yuan Yang ◽  
Li Zhang ◽  
Wei-Jin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Cathepsin L ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Disease Course ◽  
Promising Target ◽  
First Time

AbstractTo discover new drugs to combat COVID-19, an understanding of the molecular basis of SARS-CoV-2 infection is urgently needed. Here, for the first time, we report the crucial role of cathepsin L (CTSL) in patients with COVID-19. The circulating level of CTSL was elevated after SARS-CoV-2 infection and was positively correlated with disease course and severity. Correspondingly, SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection increased CTSL expression in human cells in vitro and human ACE2 transgenic mice in vivo, while CTSL overexpression, in turn, enhanced pseudovirus infection in human cells. CTSL functionally cleaved the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and enhanced virus entry, as evidenced by CTSL overexpression and knockdown in vitro and application of CTSL inhibitor drugs in vivo. Furthermore, amantadine, a licensed anti-influenza drug, significantly inhibited CTSL activity after SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus infection and prevented infection both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, CTSL is a promising target for new anti-COVID-19 drug development.

scholarly journals Flare phenomenon in prostate cancer: recent evidence on new drugs and next generation imaging

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 175883592098765
Author(s):  
Vincenza Conteduca ◽  
Giulia Poti ◽  
Paola Caroli ◽  
Sabino Russi ◽  
Nicole Brighi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Response Assessment ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Biological Mechanisms ◽  
Early Discontinuation ◽  
Flare Phenomenon ◽  
Discontinuation Of Treatment ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Treatment Response Assessment ◽  
New Evidence

Over the years, an increasing proportion of metastatic prostate cancer patients has been found to experience an initial bone flare phenomenon under both standard therapies (androgen deprivation therapy, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, abiraterone, enzalutamide) and novel agents (immunotherapy, bone-targeting radioisotopes). The underlying biological mechanisms of the flare phenomenon are still elusive and need further clarification, particularly in relation to different types of treatment and their treatment response assessment. Flare phenomenon is often underestimated and, in some cases, can negatively affect clinical outcome. In cases with suspected bone flare, the treatment should be continued for a minimum of 12 more weeks before further decisions about efficacy can be taken. Physicians and patients should be aware of this effect to avoid unwarranted anxiety and inadequate early discontinuation of treatment. This review aims at highlighting new evidence on flare phenomenon arising after the introduction of new drugs extending across the biochemical, radiographic and clinical spectrum of the disease.

scholarly journals Next generation oncology drug development: opportunities and challenges

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 259-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin E. Gutierrez ◽  
Shivaani Kummar ◽  
Giuseppe Giaccone
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Oncology Drug ◽  
Oncology Drug Development

scholarly journals Patient-derived tumour xenografts as models for oncology drug development

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 338-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Tentler ◽  
Aik Choon Tan ◽  
Colin D. Weekes ◽  
Antonio Jimeno ◽  
Stephen Leong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Oncology Drug ◽  
Oncology Drug Development ◽  
Tumour Xenografts

scholarly journals Regulatory mechanisms of phosphatase of regenerating liver (PRL)-3

2016 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 1305-1312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Rubio ◽  
Maja Köhn
Keyword(s):  
Drug Development ◽  
Posttranslational Modifications ◽  
Human Cancer ◽  
Regulatory Mechanisms ◽  
Therapeutic Drug ◽  
Regenerating Liver ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Tumor Metastases ◽  
Phosphatase Of Regenerating Liver ◽  
Incomplete Picture

The phosphatase of regenerating liver (PRL)-3 is overexpressed in many human cancer types and tumor metastases when compared with healthy tissues. Different pathways and mechanisms have been suggested to modulate PRL-3 expression levels and activity, giving some valuable insights but still leaving an incomplete picture. Investigating these mechanisms could provide new targets for therapeutic drug development. Here, we present an updated overview and summarize recent findings concerning the different PRL-3 expression regulatory mechanisms and posttranslational modifications suggested to modulate the activity, localization, or stability of this phosphatase.

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