title: Developing new agents for the treatment of childhood cancer.
abstract: The development of new drugs for the treatment of childhood cancer presents novel challenges, and pediatric clinical trials of a new agent are often initiated many years after testing in adults. It is estimated that there are over 400 new entities being developed as cancer treatments, although few of these have been developed specifically for the treatment of childhood malignancies. This raises the question of how agents can be prioritized for pediatric clinical testing. In this review, the molecular characteristics of childhood cancers that may be valuable in steering choices for rational or molecularly targeted treatments are described, and the Pediatric Preclinical Testing Program, a National Cancer Institute initiative to identify agents that should be prioritized for clinical evaluation against childhood cancer, is presented.
authors.affiliation: St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Molecular Pharmacology, 332 North Lauderdale Street, Memphis, TN 38105-2794, USA.
authors.forename: Raushan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kurmasheva
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Houghton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015195:Drug Design; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor / Q000592:standards*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000639:trends; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents