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Cancer is a large and complex family
of malignancies that can affect virtually every organ
in the body. Cancer is second only to heart disease
as the leading cause of death in the United States.
Over 1.2 million new cases are diagnosed every year,
with half of them occurring in the lung, prostate,
breast, colon and rectum. Worldwide, each year 10.9
million people are diagnosed with cancer and 6.7 million
people die from the disease. It is estimated that
there are 24.6 million people worldwide have received
a diagnosis of cancer in the last five years. Cancer
can strike at any age, although it is most common
in people over 50.
[View World Map of Cancer Incidence]
The vast majority of cancers--about 80%--are considered
sporadic, meaning that there is no clear cause. For
some reason, certain normal genes begin to mutate
(change), multiplying rapidly and becoming malignant.
There are several environmental influences that may
cause these gene mutations to occur. In fact, a large
number of cancers are preventable because most of
these factors can be controlled with healthy lifestyle
choices. The other 20% of cancers are hereditary.
There are currently four major types of cancer treatment:
surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy.
These therapies can be used either alone or in combination
with each other. Location, size and stage of the tumor,
as well as overall health, determine which treatment
or treatments will be given. Many new treatments,
including cancer vaccines and gene therapy, are being
studied in clinical trials.
Simbiosys is developing a portfolio of cell-based
drug discovery solutions that are part of the new
generation of targeted therapies against cancer utilizing
advances in molecular oncology. Solutions based on
the following therapeutic approaches are being explored
by our scientists:
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Anti-Angiogenesis |
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Angiogenesis
is the creation of tiny new blood vessels and
is a healthy process that enables the human
body to create new blood vessels to reach all
of its cells. In a cancer patient, this same
process creates new, very small blood vessels
that provide a tumor with its own blood supply
and allow it to grow. Anti-angiogenesis is the
use of drugs or other substances to stop tumors
from developing new blood vessels. Without a
blood supply, tumors cannot grow. Several hundred
compounds that interfere with the growth of
endothelial cells or that interfere with angiogenesis
have been found, many of which are now in preclinical
or clinical development. In 2004, bevacizumab
(Avastin), a monoclonal antibody directed against
VEGF, became the first anti-angiogenesis drug
to be approved for treating cancer.
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Protein
Tyrosine Kinase (PTK) Inhibition  |
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PTKs
are compelling targets for the treatment of
human cancer as they regulate multiple cellular
processes that contribute to tumor development
and progression, including cell growth, differentiation,
migration and apoptosis. In model systems, perturbation
of tyrosine kinase signaling can result in malignant
transformation. The human genome encodes 90
proteins with tyrosine kinase domains, and many
human tumors display aberrant activation of
tyrosine kinases caused by genetic alterations.
For tumors whose growth is driven by these activated
kinases, PTK inhibitors can potentially reverse
malignant progression. Clinical studies in the
last decade have established that PTK inhibitors
are safe and therapeutically active in selected
cancer populations. Several drugs from this
class are now part of standard therapy for specific
tumor types.
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Glycolysis
Inhibition |
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Over
70 years ago, Warburg observed that cancer cells
exhibit increased glycolysis and depend largely
on this metabolic pathway for generation of
ATP to meet their energy needs. During the past
several decades, the Warburg effect has been
consistently observed in a wide spectrum of
human cancers, although the underlying biochemical
and molecular mechanisms remain yet to be defined.
Among the possible mechanisms, mitochondrial
malfunction and hypoxia in the tumor microenvironment
are considered major factors contributing to
the Warburg effect.
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