| HOME | HELP | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Correspondence: Joan H. Schiller, M.D., K4/548, University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53792, USA. Telephone: 608-263-5389; Fax: 608-265-8131; e-mail: jhschill{at}facstaff.wisc.edu
Despite advances made in cytotoxic chemotherapy, the prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) continues to be poor. New, more effective drugs must be identified and developed to improve the outcome of these patients. Three drugs with promising activity in NSCLC are pemetrexed (Alimta®; Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, http://www.lilly.com), bortezomib (Velcade®; Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA, http://www.mlnm.com), and cetuximab (Erbitux®; ImClone Systems, Inc., New York, NY, http://www.imclone.com). Pemetrexed inhibits thymidylate synthase, dihydrofolate reductase, and glycinamide ribonucleotide formyl transferase, enzymes necessary for purine and pyrimidine synthesis, thus causing cell-cycle arrest in the S phase. Bortezomib, a proteasome inhibitor, interferes with the cytosolic protein degradation machinery, namely the ubiquitin-proteasome complex, causing breakdown of cell-cycle regulators and cell-cycle arrest. Cetuximab is a chimeric mouse-human antibody that inhibits ligand-dependent activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor, resulting in receptor internalization and inhibition of downstream pathways that, in turn, causes cell growth and progression. All three drugs are approved for different tumor types, and studies defining their role in NSCLC are under way.
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
E. N. Vinageras, A. de la Torre, M. O. Rodriguez, M. C. Ferrer, I. Bravo, M. M. del Pino, D. A. Abreu, S. A. Brooks, R. Rives, C. del Castillo Carrillo, et al. Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial of an Epidermal Growth Factor Vaccine in Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer J. Clin. Oncol., March 20, 2008; 26(9): 1452 - 1458. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
I. Velikyan, A. L. Sundberg, O. Lindhe, A. U. Hoglund, O. Eriksson, E. Werner, J. Carlsson, M. Bergstrom, B. Langstrom, and V. Tolmachev Preparation and Evaluation of 68Ga-DOTA-hEGF for Visualization of EGFR Expression in Malignant Tumors J. Nucl. Med., November 1, 2005; 46(11): 1881 - 1888. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| HOME | HELP | CONTACT US | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| THE ONCOLOGIST | STEM CELLS | CME | ALPHAMED PRESS JOURNALS |