title: Minnelide, a novel drug for pancreatic and liver cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pancreatic cancer is the 10th leading cause of all new cancer cases for men and the fourth leading cause of death across genders, having very poor prognosis and survival rates. The current standard of care Gemcitabine fails to add any survival benefit for this disease (www.cancer.gov). Though the incidence of pancreatic cancer is found to be higher in developed countries, the aggressive biology of the cancer, its high rate of recurrence and chemo-resistance make it a formidable disease in all parts of the globe. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or liver cancer, on the other hand affects almost 750,000 people world wide with 84% of the cases coming from underdeveloped or developing countries
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our studies show that Minnelide, a water soluble pro-drug of triptolide (active compound from a chinese herb) is very effective against a number of malignant diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study discusses the efficacy of this compound in pancreatic and liver cancer.
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic and Translational Research, Dept. of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA.
authors.forename: Sulagna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Division of Basic and Translational Research, Dept. of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA; Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. Electronic address: asaluja@umn.edu.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saluja
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004224:Diterpenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010616:Phenanthrenes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011355:Prodrugs
chemical_list: D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D004224:Diterpenes; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D010755:Organophosphates; D010616:Phenanthrenes; D011355:Prodrugs; C001899:triptolide; C579022:14-O-phosphonooxymethyltriptolide disodium salt
keywords: Animal models; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Minnelide; Pancreatic cancer; Translational study; Triptolide