Inhibitors of signal transduction protein kinases as targets for cancer therapy.
Cancer development requires that tumour cells attain several capabilities, including increased replicative potentials, anchorage and growth-factor independency, evasion of apoptosis, angiogenesis and metastasis. Many of these processes involve the actions of protein kinases, which have emerged as key regulators of all aspects of neoplasia. Perturbed protein kinase activity is repeatedly found to be associated with human malignancies, making these proteins attractive targets for anti-cancer therapy. The last decade has witnessed an exponential increase in the development of specific small protein kinase inhibitors. Many of them are in clinical trials in patients with different types of cancer and some are successfully used in clinic. This review describes different approaches that are currently applied to develop such specific protein kinase inhibitors and provides an overview of protein kinase inhibitors that are currently in clinical trials or are administered in the clinic. Focus is directed on inhibitors against receptor tyrosine kinases and protein kinases participating in the signalling cascades.
Mikalsen
Theresa
T
Department of Microbiology and Virology, Institute of Medical Biology, University of Tromsø, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway.
Gerits
Nancy
N
Moens
Ugo
U
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases