Cancer Treatments / Symptoms & Support
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We’ve been talking about the potentially relevant molecular markers for EGFR, and the importance of EGFR as a cancer target (see prior post), without really describing what these markers are. There are three main aspects of EGFR biology that have been studied for their potential predictive value in consideration of EGFR inhibitor therapy, whether the [...]
1 Comments The topic of what is EGFR is one that really deserves to have been covered here from the beginning, but somehow I skipped to the drugs and what they do in cancer patients. It’s time to take a step back and discuss EGFR and why it’s been an important target in cancer.
EGFR stands for [...]
The leading side effect of EGFR inhibitors, both the oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors (such as tarceva (erlotinib)) and the IV monoclonal antibodies (such as erbitux (cetuximab)), is rash, dryness, and other skin side effects. While a rash sounds modest to many people compared to many of the leading problems with chemo, [...]
4 CommentsAs I’ve described in various posts about targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), one of the main signals that is important in many lung cancers, there are agents like gefitinib (iressa) and erlotinib (tarceva) that target the internal switch that triggers activity inside the cell, and there are agents like cetuximab [...]
2 CommentsWe’ve been following the development of a drug called Zactima (also known as ZD6474, or vandetanib) for over a year as it continues to be studied in lung cancer, and the work continues. As first discussed in my initial post on this agent, this agent actually inhibits BOTH VEGF and EGFR (in fact, the [...]
10 CommentsIn addition to several molecular targets that have been well studied for several years, such as the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), new targets are emerging as potentially fruitful approaches to combating cancer. One of these is the insulin-like growth factor receptor, or IGF-1R. [...]
1 CommentsAs I described in part I of this subject (last post here), lactoferrin is an immunostimulatory protein that is found in highest concentrations in breast milk (hence the name), and the recombinant form talactoferrin alfa (TLF) was combined with chemo in a randomized phase II study of front line advanced NSCLC in which [...]
12 CommentsWe’ve covered several novel agents for treating lung cancer, but a new one that has shown promise in early studies and now is the subject of larger phase III trials is a drug called talactoferrin alfa (TLF), from a small company based in Houston called Agennix. I think it’s possible that [...]
1 CommentsThere’s a new class of anti-cancer drugs that are being studied, including in lung cancer, known as heat shock proteins, or HSPs. These are sometimes referred to as “stress proteins” because they can be induced to be generated in higher concentrations in response to stresses like heat, cold, low oxygen levels, etc. But HSPs are [...]
8 CommentsAlthough much of our focus has been on targeted therapies, there are still new conventional chemotherapies that are being introduced and may have a meaningful impact on lung cancer. One that has been tested in late clinical trials, including a phase III randomized study, is vinflunine, which is a novel version [...]
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