Gastrin and gastrin receptor ligands - a review of recent patent literature.
The peptide hormone gastrin is involved in the regulation of acid secretion in the stomach and acts as a growth hormone in the stomach. Although gastrin receptors are expressed in many tumors throughout the body, the clinical significance of this is still unknown. Despite considerable efforts from many pharmaceutical organizations for over a decade, there is as yet no commercially available gastrin ligand. This review covers the patent literature relating both to novel gastrin ligands and to new applications of gastrin and its ligands, including gastrin antibodies, between April 1998 and April 2002.
Steel
Katherine
K
The James Black Foundation Ltd, 68 Half Moon Lane, London, SE24 9JE, UK. katherine.steel@kcl.ac.uk