Other highlights in the October 2 issue of JNCI

In patients with advanced prostate cancer, the disease often spreads to the bone, causing pain, fractures, and spinal cord compression. In the October 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Fred Saad, M.D., of Notre Dame Hospital of the University of Montreal, and his colleagues show in a randomized double-blind study that patients given the biphosphonate zoledronic acid had fewer bone complications and experienced less pain than patients who received a placebo. The authors also show that the patients tolerated a lower dose of the drug better than a higher dose of the drug.

Tumor Variations May Affect Response to Antiangiogenic Therapy

Antiangiogenic antibodies have been shown to shrink tumors by blocking angiogenesis, or the formation of new blood vessels. In the October 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Gordon Jayson, Ph.D., of the Christie Hospital NHS Trust in the United Kingdom, and his colleagues report that tumors in patients treated with the HuMV833 antiangiogenic antibody show marked differences in antibody uptake, distribution, and clearance. This variation may account for why some tumors appear resistant to antiangiogenic antibody therapies, the authors write. These results have implications for the design and assessment of antiangiogenic compounds.

Blocking Signaling Components Make Cancer Cells Appear Normal

When treated with inhibitors that block certain signaling components, breast cancer cells can revert back to cells that appear normal, according to a new study in the October 2 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Fei Wang, Ph.D., and Mina J. Bissell, Ph.D., of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and their colleagues treated three aggressive human breast cancer cell lines with inhibitors of three signaling components: â1 integrin, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and/or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K). All three cell lines showed a partial reversion to cells that appear normal after treatment with a single inhibitor. Combined inhibition of â1 integrin and either PI3K or MAPK led to a nearly complete reversal of cancer cells to cells that appear normal, or to cell death.

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