Signal transduction pathways.
The development of agents designed to interfere with the various signal transduction pathways known to be aberrant in cancers remains an interesting area of anticancer drug development. The ability to identify a large series of kinase inhibitors with differing selectivities has been one of the major recent advances in medicinal chemistry. A series of first generation inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases, specific tyrosine kinases, (as well as inhibitors of processing of the Ras protein, which were not covered in this session) have now reached early clinical trials. In contrast to trials with "standard" cytotoxic agents, cytostatic effects necessitating the use of chronic, ideally oral, dosing schedules is the norm for these new agents.
Kelland
L
L
CRC Centre for Cancer Therapeutics, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK. lloyd@icr.ac.uk