Humana Cancer Chemoprevention: Volume 2: Strategies for Cancer Chemoprevention (Cancer Drug Discovery and Development)

Despite significant advances in cancer treatment and measures of neoplastic progression, drug effect (or early detection, overall cancer incidence has increased, pharmacodynamic markers), and markers that measure cancer-associated morbidity is considerable, and overall prognosis as well as predict responses to specific therapy. cancer survival has remained relatively flat over the past All these biomarkers have the potential to greatly augment several decades (1,2). However, new technology the development of successful chemoprevention therapies, allowing exploration of signal transduction pathways, but two specific types of biomarkers will have the most identification of cancer-associated genes, and imaging of immediate impact on successful chemopreventive drug tissue architecture and molecular and cellular function is development―those that measure the risk of developing increasing our understanding of carcinogenesis and cancer invasive life-threatening disease, and those whose mo- progression. This knowledge is moving the focus of cancer lation can “reasonably predict” clinical benefit and, therapeutics, including cancer preventive treatments, to therefore, serve as surrogate endpoints for later-occurring drugs that take advantage of cellular control mechanisms clinical disease. Thus far, the biomarker that best measures to selectively suppress cancer progression. these two phenomena is intraepithelial neoplasia (IEN) Carcinogenesis is now visualized as a multifocal, because it is a near obligate precursor to cancer. Review "...comprehensive review of the literature concerning current and future cancer chemoprevention strategies... provide(s) a basis for future developments." - The Annals of Pharmacology "...a good reference source for students and experts alike who are interested in evaluating cancer risk, strategies available to try to prevent certain cancers developing and how the incidence of cancer can be reduced b the use of therapeutic agents. -Newletter of the British Toxicology Society From the Back Cover Much progress has been made in discovering and developing agents that have promise, or have already been successfully used, to treat precancerous conditions or inhibit carcinogenesis. In Cancer Chemoprevention, Volume 2: Strategies for Cancer Chemoprevention, leading chemopreventives investigators comprehensively describe the exciting methodologies that are accelerating progress in the chemoprevention field and review the state of clinical development of preventive agents in the major human cancer target organs. The authors provide sound guidelines for cancer chemopreventive drug development, detailing general strategies and methods for drug discovery, preclinical efficacy, characterization of precancers, safety evaluation of clinical cohorts, and clinical trial design. Additional chapters address strategies for and the status of chemopreventive agent development in multiple myeloma and cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, colon, bladder, head and neck, esophagus, pancreas, ovary, endometrium, cervix, skin, and liver. The emphasis is on documenting the characterization and application of reliable biomarkers during chemopreventive drug development. Highlights include an elegant approach to identifying chemopreventive agents in natural products, the development of preclinical models for evaluating potential chemopreventive agents, the genomics and proteomics of potential applications, and approaches for determining which populations will likely benefit from chemopreventive intervention. A companion volume, Promising Cancer Chemopreventive Agents, comprehensively surveys those agents that have promise, or have already been successfully used, to treat precancerous conditions or inhibit carcinogenesis. A value-added compact disk containing a companion ebook version of Cancer Chemoprevention, Volume 2: Strategies for Cancer Chemoprevention is included for downloading