Concepts Clinical Developments And Therapeutic Advances In Cancer Chemotherapy

Where do you begin to look for a recent, authoritative article on the diagnosis or management of a particular malignancy? The few general oncology textbooks are generally out of date. Single papers in specialized journals are informative but seldom comprehensive; these are more often preliminary reports on a very limited number of patients. Certain general journals frequently publish good indepth reviews of cancer topics, and published symposium lectures are often the best overviews available. Unfor tunately, these reviews and supplements appear sporadically, and the reader can never be sure when a topic of special interest will be covered. Cancer Treatment and Research is a series of authoritative volumes which aim to meet this need. It is an attempt to establish a critical mass of oncology literature covering virtually all oncology topics, revised frequently to keep the coverage up to date, easily available on a single library shelf or by a single personal subscription. We have approached the problem in the following fashion. First, by dividing the oncology literature into specific subdivisions such as lung can cer, genitourinary cancer, pediatric oncology, etc. Second, by asking emi nent authorities in each of these areas to edit a volume on the specific topic on an annual or biannual basis. Each topic and tumor type is covered in a volume appearing frequently and predictably, discussing current diagnosis, staging, markers, all forms of treatment modalities, basic biology, and more.

Experimental chemotherapy continues to be at the forefront of cancer thera peutics. Topics covered in the preceding volume on cancer chemotherapy in this series such as study of drugs by alkaline elution, the development of the antimetabolite tiazofurin, and the treatment of germ cell tumors have become informative references to current experimentalists and practitioners. In even earlier volumes, reviews of the platinum compounds, anthracyclines, and osteosarcoma represent topics associated with such rapid progress requiring a look back to provide the appropriate perspective. Similarly, we venture to predict that the topics in this volume will become useful landmarks for future drug development and disease strategies. In the area of drug development, what is being learned about old, estab lished antineoplastics is raising renewed expectations that it will be translated into improved applications and patient benefit. For example, we now have the ability to modulate the action of alkylating agents and fluorinated pyri midines to achieve greater sensitivity. A new compound for an old target, trimetrexate, an antifolate that does not polyglutaminate, will have a role not only in treatment of neoplastic diseases, but also protozoal infection.

As in CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY 1, this volume brings to the reader highlights in three different areas of cancer therapeutics: new concepts and models; drug classes; and clinical settings. Topics were chosen because of their timeliness or probable current impact in cancer treatment. Authors were selected on the basis of their ability to provide a critical overview of specific subjects and their involvement in original work. I shall review the aims of this second volume, and then elaborate on the scope of its con tents. The principal aim of the volumes on cancer chemotherapy in the' Cancer Treatment and Research' series, as stated in the preface to the first volume, is to assemble in a concentrated form selected ingredients of chemothera peutic progress. These ingredients are to include concepts in therapeutic strategy, pre-clinical studies, development of major classes of compounds, identificatlon of new directions and of landmarks of clinical progress. Thus we do not foresee overlap with series which provide an yearly update of chemotherapy in an encyclopedic manner, or reviews of cancer chemother apy. Unlike those publications, our volumes are not intended to seek a place in shelves as a reference manual. It is this Editor's hope that persons repre senting various biomedical disciplines will seek the' Cancer Treatment and Research' chemotherapy volumes to survey advances in the field at regular intervals.

The complexity of cancer demands an integrated approach from both a cancer biology standpoint and a pharmaceutical basis to understand the different anticancer modalities. Current research has been focused on conventional and newer anticancer modalities, recent discoveries in cancer research, and also the advancements in cancer treatment. There is a current need for more research on the advances in cancer therapeutics that bridge the gap between basic research (pharmaceutical drug development processes, regulatory issues, and translational experimentation) and clinical application. Recent promising discoveries such as immunotherapies, promising therapies undergoing clinical trials, synthetic lethality, carbon beam radiation, and other exciting targeted therapies are being studied to improve and advance the studies of modern cancer treatment. The Handbook of Research on Advancements in Cancer Therapeutics serves as a comprehensive guide in modern cancer treatment by combining and merging the knowledge from both cancer biology and the pharmacology of anticancer modalities. The chapters come from multi-disciplinary backgrounds, including scientists and clinicians from both academia and various industries, to discuss nascent personalized therapies and big data-driven cancer treatment. While highlighting topic areas that include cancer prevention, cancer therapeutics, and cancer treatments through the lenses of technology, medicine/drugs, and alternate therapies, this book is ideally intended for oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists, and cancer biologists, along with practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students who are interested in understanding the most fundamental aspects of cancer and the available therapeutic opportunities.

Provides a clear and accessible summary of all stages and aspects of the discovery, design, development, validation and clinical use of anticancer drugs This new edition provides an update on the current state of the art of cancer chemotherapy and clinical practice and presents new pipeline anticancer agents and promising therapeutic strategies that are emerging alongside new breakthroughs in cancer biology. Its unique approach enables students to gain an understanding of the pathological, physiological, and molecular processes governing malignancy, while also introducing the role of health professionals and scientists in the research and treatment of cancer. Invaluable for its clarity and accessibility, Cancer Chemotherapy: Basic Science to the Clinic, 2nd Edition offers complete coverage of the scientific and clinical aspects of the creation, development, and administration of drugs or drug regimens used in the treatment of the disease. Chapters look at: cancer epidemiology and histopathology; carcinogenesis; current research; tumor hypoxia; antiangiogenic and antivascular agents; protein kinase and Ras blockers; new targets associated with development such as Hedgehog and Wnt signaling; stem cells; immunotherapy and oncolytic viruses; and more. Presents a clear, accessible, and comprehensive approach to cancer chemotherapy from basic science to clinical practice Offers a major update that reflects the latest developments in personalized chemotherapy Provides in-depth coverage of advances in biomarker diagnostics Includes new chapters/sections on bioinformatics and the ‘omic sciences’; pharmaceutical strategies used to achieve tumor-selective drug delivery; and cancer cell autophagy Combines descriptions of both clinical protocol and explanations of the drug design process in one self-contained book Features numerous diagrams and illustrations to enhance reader understanding Aimed at upper undergraduate, graduate, and medical students, Cancer Chemotherapy: Basic Science to the Clinic, 2nd Edition is also an excellent reference for health professional, especially clinicians specializing in Clinical Oncology, and their patients who want to gain an understanding of cancer and available treatment options.

Concepts, Mechanisms, and New Targets for Chemotherapy describes new interconnections between rationally designed and empirically discovered compounds. One route that has not been travelled previously is that of protein kinase C inhibition. This pathway may be exploited to give potent inhibitors, such as the bryostatins, now in clinical trial. A summary is given of the current status of topoisomerase, focusing on recent clinical advances with camptothecin analogs based on connecting empiricism with concepts of drug selectivity. Modification of existing therapies based on the pursuit of leads arising from mechanistic studies is also being applied clinically on a wide scale. Greater understanding should follow from the studies of reversal of the multidrug resistant phenotype, on the use of hydroxyurea to reverse resistance mediated by extrachromosomal DNA, and on various aspects of the fluoropyrimidine pathways. Successful applications of chemotherapy to the treatment of specific diseases include the growing applications of systemic therapy using various skin malignancies. In prostate cancer, estramustine phosphate will likely play an expanding role. Taxanes are restructuring treatment regimens in breast cancer, and high-dose strategies are described with peripheral blood progenitor autografting in the treatment of ovarian and breast cancers.

Cancer is a disease responsible for several million annual deaths among humans, worldwide. However, advances in healthcare - which include breakthroughs in science and medicine as well as access to medical treatment - have improved the survival rate of cancer patients over the last few decades. Therapeutic Revolution relates the story of one of the great scientific tales of the twentieth century: how the field of medical oncology was created and its development owing to medical and scientific breakthroughs. The book unfolds the pre-clinical and clinical concepts and innovations that led to the creation of the medical subspecialty now known as medical oncology. Therapeutic Revolution is the first book ever written on the events that led to this subspecialty of internal medicine. It relates the recollection of key events obtained from interviews of the pioneers who laid the foundations of medical oncology, as well as the author's own experience of the pre-specialty era of medical practice. The book is essential reading for medical oncologists and for all readers interested in the history of cancer treatment and also serves as a historical primer for medical students learning oncology.

This is the third volume of our series Progress in Anti-Cancer Chemo therapy. Following the strategy of the first two volumes, it covers selected aspects of progress in this fast moving field of Oncology, with contribu tions from some of the world's best known leaders in both basic and clin ical research. This year we focused on seven areas: Three prominent Clinical investigators reviewed conceptual advances in cancer research. Dr Buzdar presented a history and overview of the protection of human subjects who participate in clinical research, and the mechanisms developed to assure the ethical conduct of research on human beings. Frei reviewed an exciting and rapidly moving area of che motherapy of solid tumors, including a cogent discussion of the issues related to dose-intensification. Fisher summarized conceptual advances in our therapeutic approach to breast cancer and the paradigm shifts that lead us to our current management strategies. From this summary he pro jected breast cancer research into the future, a daunting task under any circumstance. Fundamental research in cancer biology has been responsible for our improved understanding of the development and progession of malignant disease. Such understanding will lead to improved diagnosis, therapy, and eventually, prevention. Isaacs reviews the area of hereditary breast cancer, a topic undergoing rapid transformation and with mUltiple impli cations in the daily practice of medicine. Fidler, an international expert in metastasis research reviews the potential utility of angiogenesis inhib itors in research and the therapeutic ramifications.

A simple introduction explaining the broad principles underlying chemotherapy, this book gives trainees a framework within which they can place the specific aspects of cancer chemotherapy they encounter in their everyday experience. The first part of this book is unique in explaining the recent developments in the field in terms of their point of action in the natural history of cancer. The second and third sections contain a more straightforward description of practical aspects of chemotherapy, and the current place of drug treatment in everyday cancer management, including the outcomes of that treatment.

Pharmaceutical Perspectives of Cancer Therapeutics covers a wide variety of therapeutic approaches including gene therapy, immunological therapy; cancer vaccines; strategy for solid tumors as well as for hematological cancers; methods to suppress tumor angiogenesis and metastasis; development and utilization of relevant animal models; introduction of new concepts such as cancer stem cells and new technologies, such as DNA and tissue microarrays; and RNA interference. In addition, clinical application, the development of DNA diagnosis biomarkers and cancer prevention, as well as the utilization of imaging in cancer therapy are also discussed. The use of synthetic carriers, such as lipids, polymers, and peptides for delivery and targeting of small molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids to cancer cells in vivo are discussed. Pharmaceutical Perspectives of Cancer Therapeutics also includes cancer therapy modality in surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, as well as in combination or multi-modality, giving our book a more focused view of cancer therapy.