Volume 6 Issue 5, May 2007

Growing public interest in earlier access to experimental drugs for life-threatening conditions such as cancer has stimulated proposals for legislation that would promote or even create rights to access. But if the importance of properly conducted clinical trials is not valued appropriately, such actions could be detrimental to drug development and patient care.

Monoclonal antibodies are now established as a key therapeutic modality for a range of diseases, including cancer. Reichert and Valge-Archer overview trends in the development and regulatory approval of anticancer monoclonal antibodies since 1980, with the aim of informing future research and development for this class of therapeutics.

Ten years after the cloning of the capsaicin TRPV1 receptor, TRPV1 antagonists are currently in clinical trials for the treatment of pain. Szallasi and colleagues review the past decade of progress and discuss how TRPV1 antagonists could be beneficial in other disorders.

Endogenous polyamines are essential for cell growth and are known to be dysregulated in cancer and other diseases. Here the potential strategies for modulating polyamine metabolism and function are reviewed with a focus on the use of synthetic polyamine analogues.

Dual-specificity phosphatases (DUSPs) are a subclass of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) that interact with and regulate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). DUSPs can positively or negatively control immune responses in cancers, infectious diseases and inflammatory diseases, making them promising drug targets for immune-based disorders.

Peptide epitopes represent the minimal immunogenic region of a protein antigen. In the light of new insights into the nature of immunogenic epitopes, and recent advances in peptide delivery, stability and design, Purcell and colleagues review developments in the field of peptide-based vaccines.