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Spotlight on Signal Transduction Inhibitors: Basic Aspects and Therapeutic Implications

Spotlight Imatinib: a model for signal transduction inhibitors

Leukemia volume 16, pages 1205–1206 (2002)Cite this article

The application of signal transduction inhibitors to the treatment of human malignancies has opened exciting new doors into targeted tumor therapy. Perhaps the most dramatic example of how comprehending cellular signalling pathways can lead to the development of an effective, non-toxic therapy is through the Bcr-Abl kinase inhibitor imatinib (formerly STI-571, Glivec/Gleevec). Pre-clinical studies in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) have demonstrated the selective inhibitory effects of imatinib against Bcr-Abl, with minimal impact on normal hematopoiesis. These promising results correlate well with the efficient inhibition also observed in both Bcr-Abl transgenic and transplanted mice.

Though imatinib is a relatively novel therapy, its successful development has been (and continues to be) painstakingly thorough. Imatinib entered clinical phase I trials in 1998 and results were published in 2001.1,2 Multinational phase II studies in CML and Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) were soon initiated in 1999.3,4,5,6 Imatinib is currently being compared against the traditional interferon-alpha (IFN)-plus Ara-C in a randomized trial for newly diagnosed CML patients. Preliminary phase III data were reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in May 2002.7 Now, more than 20 000 patients have taken imatinib with encouraging clinical benefits, including high levels of tolerance to treatment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guest Editor, Imatinib Spotlight,

    A Hochhaus

  2. Section Editor, Signal Transduction and Cytokines and Signal Transduction Inhibition,

    JA McCubrey

  3. Advisory Editor, Section Editor of ‘Molecular Targets for Therapy’,

    N Muller-Bérat Killmann

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  1. A Hochhaus
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  2. JA McCubrey
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  3. N Muller-Bérat Killmann
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Hochhaus, A., McCubrey, J. & Muller-Bérat Killmann, N. Spotlight Imatinib: a model for signal transduction inhibitors. Leukemia 16, 1205–1206 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2402575

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