Its chips were used for measuring when genes were active in tumors and other tissues.
Astra actually launched one of the first cancer drugs to target a molecular defect in tumors, the lung cancer pill, Iressa.
FORBES: AstraZeneca's Victory Highlights Difficulty Of Cancer Drug Development
Friend thinks he can accurately predict how groups of proteins in tumors work together and use that information to kill the cancer.
Cancer cells lose the natural balance between proliferation and death that normal cells have, resulting in tumors that gradually get larger and larger.
Several small trials hint that Afinitor may help restore the effects of Roche's breast cancer drug Herceptin in tumors that have become resistant to it.
But Taxol eventually grew to be the biggest-selling cancer drug of its time, as clinical trials proved numerous additional uses in tumors of the breast and lung.
Sutent is one of a new generation of cancer pills that is trying to build on the success of intravenous cancer therapies such as Avastin, from Genentechby tageting multiple genetic targets involved in tumors at once.
Sutent is one of a new generation of cancer pills that is trying to build on the success of intravenous cancer therapies such as Avastin, from Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people )by tageting multiple genetic targets involved in tumors at once.
FORBES: McKinnell's Pfizer Submits 'Revolutionary' Cancer Drug
Using DNA sequencing, Rothberg says, doctors in the not-too-distant future will finger genetic weak spots in tumors and treat cancer patients with customized drugs. (This is already happening at some cancer centers.) Kids born with rare diseases will get large portions of their genome decoded to pinpoint the cause, eliminating guesswork and misdiagnoses.
The first hints of how promising the new drugs could be in holding tumors in check were to be unveiled by Genentech and Sugen late last month.
Melastatin stuck out as being present in curable tumors but absent in nasty ones.
Bristol-Myers originally designed dasatinib to block a mutant protein in other tumors, but in 2001 company pharmacologist Francis Lee noticed that it was hundreds of times more potent than Gleevec in blocking the CML cell growth.
In spite of this, rates of brain tumors in advanced industrial countries show no evidence of an increase in specific types of brain tumors.
FORBES: Do Cell Phones Cause Brain Cancer? The Diehards Cling Desperately To Opinion
In tackling tuberous sclerosis, the hereditary condition in which benign tumors grow in the skin, kidneys or brain, Novartis hopes a pill can improve on current treatment, which includes the surgical removal of tumors.
The most important presentation shows studies that its Avastin drug works against certain lung and breast tumors and that Herceptin, a breast cancer drug, is effective in preventing tumors from returning.
Meanwhile, PLX4032 from Roche and Plexxikon works via a different mechanism and shrinks tumors in a mind-boggling 80% of melanoma patients whose tumors have a mutation called in a gene called BRAF, These results were published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The team hopes that calculations from virtual patients will help guide doctors in targeting tumors or making clinical decisions, like figuring out if the benefits to the mother in getting a CT scan outweigh the risks to the fetus.
In trials unveiled in May, Iressa shrank tumors in 10% or more of patients with non-small cell lung cancer who had failed other chemotherapies.
Historically, most drugs in this patient population only shrink tumors in only 30% of patients.
FORBES: Seattle Genetics Scores Win For Smart-Bomb Cancer Drugs
But Allison showed in 1996 that he could shrink tumors in mice by injecting them with antibodies to CTLA-4.
AstraZeneca's Iressa--which is approved for lung cancer and being tested in colon tumors--is a pill, while Erbitux must be injected.
In the 1980s researchers found high levels of EGF receptors in human tumors of the brain, lung, breast, bladder and pancreas.
But by keeping track of patients' genes, the genes in their tumors and what drugs they take, scientists will be able to discern patterns.
Cancer geneticist Garth Anderson (profiled in part 1 of this series) explains that the problem is the sheer number of ever-changing mutations in common tumors.
FORBES: Gleevec Inventor: Why Aren't There More Cancer Cures?
Incyte's database contains thousands of genes found in different tumors.
There are far more mutations in common tumors.
FORBES: Gleevec Inventor: Why Aren't There More Cancer Cures?
The article said retrospective research data from hospitals in Ohio and Missouri noted that failing to get regular breast screenings often left these women more likely to discover cancer at an advanced stage and the delay resulted in larger tumors and a worse prognosis once the cancer was uncovered.
FORBES: Breast Exams: Mammography Is Not The Only Game In Town
The excitement over Canadian-based YM and its presentation of data from phase I and II clinical trials at ASCO centers not only on its positive data on myelofibrosis but on indications its JAK inhibitors may also have applications in solid tumors, as well as inflammatory diseases, says Chrystyna Bedrij, biotech analyst at Griffin Securities.
FORBES: YM Biosicences: Its Data at ASCO On Drug for Bone Marrow Disorders Catapults Its Stock
Urging patients to quit as early as possible is crucial, says Alumkal, who points out that even men in their 30s may be harboring cancerous tumors in their prostates.
应用推荐