Table of contents
May 2007 Volume 4 No 5
Editorial
Viewpoint
A remedy for biomarker addiction: back to rational anticancer drug development
264The authors of this Viewpoint argue there are no facile solutions to replace the painstaking, empirical effort required to identify the targets within 'addicted' tumors. Redundant pathways and our incomplete understanding of drug targets cast doubt on biomarker evidence unless reinforced by biological observations. Further integration of academia, industry and the regulatory organizations is required.
Research Highlights
Gene signature from tumorigenic cancer cells prognostic for four types of cancer
266Twist expression is a prognostic indicator in epithelial ovarian carcinoma
266HER2 downstream signaling events differ between breast and ovarian cancers
266Neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves chance of optimum debulking in ovarian carcinoma
267MUC4 expression might predict outcome in patients with lung adenocarcinoma
267Inhaled interleukin 2 shows efficacy and only mild toxicity in pulmonary metastases of RCC
268Radiotherapy dose of 25–30 Gy minimizes damage to parotid glands in head and neck cancer
268Metabolic late effects in survivors of hematopoietic cell transplantation
269Choice of response rates should be better justified in phase II trials
269Survivors of testicular cancer have an increased risk of second malignancy
269Lymph node ratio aids outcome prediction in patients with node-positive breast cancer
270Dichloroacetate decreases tumor growth and induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo
271Practice Points
Is preoperative chemotherapy useful for nonmetastatic Wilms' tumor?
272Does palliative chemotherapy beyond three courses benefit patients with non-small-cell lung cancer?
274Is bortezomib active in patients with mantle cell lymphoma?
276Is sentinel-node biopsy superior to nodal observation in melanoma?
278Reviews
Chemoradiotherapy for localized esophageal cancer: regimen selection and molecular mechanisms of radiosensitization
282Single-modality therapy can be used with curative intent for locally confined disease. For the treatment of most solid tumors further improvement is achieved by combining the three standard treatment approaches: surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. This article reviews the chemoradiotherapy approach to loco-regional treatment with esophageal cancer as the disease focus. The authors present the molecular basis for the enhanced efficacy resulting from the use of concurrent chemoradiotherapy, and discuss how this mechanistic approach can be translated to the clinic.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0796 | Full Text | PDF (322K)
Medulloblastoma: tumorigenesis, current clinical paradigm, and efforts to improve risk stratification
295The current tools of clinical risk assessment for medulloblastoma cannot sufficiently identify patients older than 3 years who require aggressive or less-intensive radiation treatment, but considerable effort has been made to improve clinical risk stratification. The current paradigm for stratifying patients for treatment is discussed and the authors highlight that an understanding of the biology of medulloblastoma will help improve clinical risk stratification that currently under treats and over treats a significant percentage of patients.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0794 | Full Text | PDF (626K)
Mechanisms of Disease: methyl-binding domain proteins as potential therapeutic targets in cancer
305The methyl binding domain family of proteins have a significant role in controlling gene expression in vivo, and have been linked to multiple and diverse functions in tumorigenesis. DNA hypermethylation is a well-recognized mechanism underlying gene silencing events in both tumorigenesis and drug resistance. The authors of this review shed light on the mechanisms of this protein family and explain why it is likely that these proteins will be important novel therapeutic targets in the future.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0812 | Full Text | PDF (360K)
Case Study
Complete pathological response to bevacizumab and chemoradiation in advanced rectal cancer
316Localized rectal adenocarcinoma responds well to 5-fluorouracil/radiation-based therapy. Willett et al. present the case of a 55-year-old woman who was diagnosed with extensive and locally invasive carcinoma of the rectum and received bevacizumab in combination with chemoradiotherapy. Upon completion of neoadjuvant therapy, the patient underwent abdominoperineal resection with posterior vaginectomy, hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. The authors discuss the complete response seen in this patient and insights into the application and clinical management of using anti-VEGF therapy with chemoradiation.
doi:10.1038/ncponc0813 | Full Text | PDF (512K)
