Author: Workman P.

Source: Current Cancer Drug Targets, Volume 3, Number 5, October 2003 , pp. i-i(1)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

In this issue of Current Cancer Drug Targets we are featuring a series of articles on the subject of Hsp90 Molecular Chaperone Inhibitors: Opportunities and Challenges. This is an exciting and timely topic. As tends to be the case these days in the best translational science, the biology of a hot area is still breaking at the same time as the first attempts at therapeutic exploitation are underway. This has advantages and disadvantages.

On the one hand, the fastest possible translation of new science into novel therapies is to be encouraged. The potential for patient benefit can be realised more rapidly - and if the results are disappointing we need to know that quickly too so that the approach can be dropped and other interesting opportunities can be pursued. On the other hand, early entry into a new target area carries with it the risk that we may have insufficient knowledge to fully understand the system in which we are attempting to intervene therapeutically.

However, on the whole, the benefits outweigh the downsides. The interdependence and mutual synergies of fundamental and translational research are illustrated very well by the example of Hsp90. The astonishing developments in the basic research on Hsp90 can help us to develop drugs acting on this target more effectively. Equally well, the natural product inhibitors of Hsp90 have proved to be invaluable tools with which to study the function of this vitally important molecular chaperone.

As we continue to gain new insights into the role of Hsp90 in evolution, development, chromatin biology and epigenetics, what makes this topic particularly timely is the fact that the Phase I clinical trials with the first-in-class Hsp90 inhibitor, 17AAG, are now coming to completion. The results have proved promising enough for Phase II clinical trials to be planned. In addition, the clinical studies with 17AAG, together with the biological underpinning, have reinforced the enthusiasm of many groups to develop novel Hsp90 inhibitors.

The articles in this special issue capture the sense of excitement in the Hsp90 field and the therapeutic opportunities presented by Hsp90 inhibitors. In particular these agents offer the potential of broad spectrum activity against a wide range of different tumours through their combinatorial effects on many different oncogenic proteins and pathways and their action on all of the hallmark traits of malignancy. At the same time there are many challenges ahead to realise the full therapeutic potential of Hsp90 inhibitors. It will require clinicians and scientists from many different disciplines to work together to achieve this objective. The articles in this special issue are designed to encourage this collaborative activity.

I would like to thank Chloe Mayo in my office for coordinating the assembly of this special issue and John Buolamwini and his colleagues on the production side for their help and support. I would also like to thank all the contributors for their enthusiastic participation.

Document Type: Book review

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1568009033481840

Affiliations: 1: Cancer Research UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics Institute of Cancer Research 15 Cotswold Rd Sutton, Surrey SM2 5NG UK

Publication date: 2003-10-01

More about this publication?

• Current Cancer Drug Targets aims to cover all the latest and outstanding developments on the medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, molecular biology, genomics and biochemistry of contemporary molecular drug targets involved in cancer, e.g. disease specific proteins, receptors, enzymes, genes.
  Each issue of the journal contains a series of timely in-depth reviews written by leaders in the field covering a range of current topics on drug targets involved in cancer.
  As the discovery, identification, characterization and validation of novel human drug targets for anti-cancer drug discovery continues to grow; this journal has become essential reading for all pharmaceutical scientists involved in drug discovery and development.

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