Dragons 'round the fleece again: STI571 versus alpha1 acid glycoprotein.
Open Access
- 18 October 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute
- Vol. 92 (20) , 1626-7
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/92.20.1626
Abstract
Ovid recounts the story of Jason and his Argonauts (1), who, after dealing with jealous harpies, wandering rocks, spectral armies, and fire-snorting bulls, approach the Golden Fleece only to find it guarded by a sleepless dragon who complicates the ease with which their prize might be grasped. In the current age, we hope to revolutionize cancer therapeutics by defining drug molecules that target the pathophysiologic basis of cancer: activated oncogenes, deregulated tumor suppressor genes, and the ubiquitously relevant processes of angiogenesis and apoptosis. Drugs bound specifically to these or their related targets are the Fleeces of our quest. STI571 is a selective p210bcr-abl oncogene tyrosine kinase inhibitor (2). BCR-ABL-related molecules are etiologic for adult chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) (3) and a fraction of acute lymphoblastic leukemias. Therefore, STI571 treatment of BCR-ABL-expressing neoplasms is prototypic in a way that we hope to emulate by use of target-directed drugs in other diseases that are driven by other oncogene-derived kinases.Keywords
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