The evidence of cancer in humans, animals and plant species suggests that it is as old as multicellular life on Earth. Why is it so difficult to understand and fight? Because cancer begins from the organism's own mutated single cell focused on its own survival. It would be naive to expect that cancer could be ever entirely eliminated, but there is still hope for finding effective treatments. The book is to give a view of selected aspects of cancer like its spread in nature, novel anticancer drugs based on Chinese herbs or birch bark, novel promising targets of annexins and kinases and progress in immunotherapy. It is our hope that you will find in this book interesting, inspiring and stimulating information concerning cancer research.

This book explains how current medicines against cancer work and how we find new ones. It provides an easy-to-understand overview of current options to treat patients with cancer, which includes Surgery, Radiation therapy, Chemotherapy, Targeted therapy and Immunotherapy. The efficiency of all these treatments is limited by the capacity of cancer cells to escape therapy. This book explains the mechanisms of anti-cancer drug resistance and strategies to overcome it. The discovery and development process of a new drug is detailed beginning with the identification and validation of a therapeutic target, the identification of an inhibitor of the target and its subsequent preclinical and clinical development until its approval by regulatory authorities. Particular emphasis has been given to specific aspects of the development process including lead generation and optimization, pharmacokinetics, ADME analysis, pharmacodynamics, toxicity and efficacy assessment, investigational new drug (IND) and new drug application (NDA) and the design of clinical trial and their phases. The book covers many aspects of modern personalized oncology and discusses economic aspects of our current system of developing new medicines and its impact on our societies and on future drug research. The author of this book, Dr. Link counts with more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research reflected in numerous publications, patents and key note and plenary presentations at international conferences. Interested readers, students and teachers should read this book as it provides a unique way to learn/teach about basic concepts in oncology and anti-cancer drug research.

This unique volume traces the critically important pathway by which a "molecule" becomes an "anticancer agent. " The recognition following World War I that the administration of toxic chemicals such as nitrogen mustards in a controlled manner could shrink malignant tumor masses for relatively substantial periods of time gave great impetus to the search for molecules that would be lethal to specific cancer cells. Weare still actively engaged in that search today. The question is how to discover these "anticancer" molecules. Anticancer Drug Development Guide: Preclinical Screening, Clinical Trials, and Approval, Second Edition describes the evolution to the present of preclinical screening methods. The National Cancer Institute's high-throughput, in vitro disease-specific screen with 60 or more human tumor cell lines is used to search for molecules with novel mechanisms of action or activity against specific phenotypes. The Human Tumor Colony-Forming Assay (HTCA) uses fresh tumor biopsies as sources of cells that more nearly resemble the human disease. There is no doubt that the greatest successes of traditional chemotherapy have been in the leukemias and lymphomas. Since the earliest widely used in vivo drug screening models were the murine L 1210 and P388 leukemias, the community came to assume that these murine tumor models were appropriate to the discovery of "antileukemia" agents, but that other tumor models would be needed to discover drugs active against solid tumors.

The past decades have seen major developments in the understanding of the cellular and molecular biology of cancer. Significant progress has been achieved regarding long-term survival for the patients of many cancers with the use of tamoxifen for treatment of breast cancer, treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia with imatinib, and the success of biological drugs. The transition from cytotoxic chemotherapy to targeted cancer drug discovery and development has resulted in an increasing selection of tools available to oncologists. In this Special Issue of Pharmaceuticals, we highlight the opportunities and challenges in the discovery and design of innovative cancer therapies, novel small-molecule cancer drugs and antibody–drug conjugates, with articles covering a variety of anticancer therapies and potential relevant disease states and applications. Significant efforts are being made to develop and improve cancer treatments and to translate basic research findings into clinical use, resulting in improvements in survival rates and quality of life for cancer patients. We demonstrate the possibilities and scope for future research in these areas and also highlight the challenges faced by scientists in the area of anticancer drug development leading to improved targeted treatments and better survival rates for cancer patients.

Here in a single source is a complete spectrum of ideas on the development of new anticancer drugs. Containing concise reviews of multidisciplinary fields of research, this book offers a wealth of ideas on current and future molecular targets for drug design, including signal transduction, the cell division cycle, and programmed cell death. Detailed descriptions of sources for new drugs and methods for testing and clinical trial design are also provided. - One work that can be consulted for all aspects of anticancer drug development - Concise reviews of research fields, combined with practical scientific detail, written by internationally respected experts - A wealth of ideas on current and future molecular targets for drug design, including signal transduction, the cell division cycle, and programmed cell death - Detailed descriptions of the sources of new anticancer drugs, including combinatorial chemistry, phage display, and natural products - Discussion of how new drugs can be tested in preclinical systems, including the latest technology of robotic assay systems, cell culture, and experimental animal techniques - Hundreds of references that allow the reader to access relevant scientific and medical literature - Clear illustrations, some in color, that provide both understanding of the field and material for teaching

Genomics and Pharmacogenomics in Anticancer Drug Development and Clinical Response provides the most comprehensive body of knowledge available on the role of genetic and genomic variation in the individualization of drug therapies in cancer patients. As a consequence of the intrinsic chromosomal and genetic instability of the tumor genome, it is generally believed that tailoring of chemotherapy in cancer - tients might be achieved by molecular analysis of patient tumor DNA. In addition, to reduce the toxicity risk of patients, the tumor DNA information should be in- grated with the available data on polymorphic drug-metabolizing enzyme and tra- porter genes mediating the exposure of patients to active drugs and/or their active metabolites. The chapters of this book clearly show how DNA information from both the host (germline) and the tumor should be taken into account for rational selection of drug therapies in cancer patients, an aspect that received little attention, despite its importance. The availability of new molecular approaches to the selection of drug therapy is an emerging need, because the traditional approach based on the evaluation of patient and tumor characteristics is clearly far from optimal. Many treated patients do not experience signi?cant bene?ts from the treatment, while they often experience moderate to severe toxicities. In addition, the development and clinical use of novel molecularly targeted agents (alone or in combination with classical cytotoxic therapy) requires the und- standing of the molecular features of the tumors and the identi?cation of tumor markers of response.

This cutting-edge book surveys the current knowledge on the mode of action of the major classes of DNA-interactive antitumor agents, providing information that could be crucial for the discovery of new therapeutic substances. It is an important reference for molecular biologists, cancer researchers, biochemists, biophysicists, and pharmacologists.

Animal Models in Cancer Drug Discovery brings forward the most cutting-edge developments in tumor model systems for translational cancer research. The reader can find under this one volume virtually all types of existing and emerging tumor models in use by the research community. This book provides a deeper insight on how these newer models could de-risk modern drug discovery. Areas covered include up to date information on latest organoid derived models and newer genetic models. Additionally, the book discusses humanized animal tumor models for cancer immunotherapy and how they leverage personalized therapies. The chapter on larger animal, canine models and their use in and their use in pre-investigational new drug (pre-IND) development makes the volume unique. Unlike before, the incorporation of several simplified protocols, breeding methodologies, handling and assessment procedures to study drug intervention makes this book a must read. Animal Models in Cancer Drug Discovery is a valuable resource for basic and translational cancer researchers, drug discovery researchers, contract research organizations, and knowledge seekers at all levels in the biomedical field.

Cancer Pharmacology: An Illustrated Manual of Anticancer Drugs provides a one-stop guide to the essential basic and clinical science of all the effective, life-prolonging drug therapies in oncology. From traditional cytotoxic agents to targeted genomic, epigenomic, hormonal, and immunotherapeutic agents, this book covers the staggering advances in cancer pharmacology that are propelling new standards of care for common and uncommon malignancies. Beautifully illustrated throughout, each chapter contains visually engaging figures detailing the tumor microenvironment, chemical structures of agents, pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenomic, and molecular properties of the various agents, and their mechanisms of action. As the first illustrated book of its kind, this highly visual text uses a uniform approach to each cancer drug class and agent presented in the book, and covers alkylating agents, antimetabolites, antimitotics, epigenetic modulators, hormonal agents, targeted therapies, monoclonal antibodies, immunotherapeutic agents, and much more. Flow diagrams, clinical tables, and bulleted text further explain important information pertaining to each cancer drug class including their indications, mechanisms of action, potential adverse reactions, dosing and dose adjustments, and safety monitoring. Organized in an easyto- digest format and replete with detailed images, clinical pearls, and end of chapter Q&As, this evidence-based reference presents all major classes, agents, targets, and approaches to cancer pharmacotherapy. Whether you are a trainee, a clinical scientist, or a clinician in practice, the book is an ideal reference. It presents challenging information in an instructional way, illustrates key concepts for ease of retention, and poses tough questions so readers can problem solve potential scenarios and test their pharmacologic acumen. Written by leading experts in oncopharmacology, this first-of-its kind manual is a “must have” for anyone involved in the basic, translational, or clinical aspects of oncology and hematology including clinicians, pharmacists, nurses, and trainees. KEY FEATURES: Includes visual depictions of chemical structures, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacogenomics associated with each class of agents Describes how chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and hormonal therapy work and why they are expected to work adjuvantly, neoadjuvantly, and in combination with other modalities Over 100 highly stylized images and numerous comprehensive tables Covers challenges related to drug development, drug approval, and regulatory issues in relation to anticancer treatments All chapters conclude with clinical pearls and detailed clinical Q&As with descriptive rationales Purchase includes access to the ebook for use on most mobile devices or computers