Drug in new class of targeted therapies shows early promise against blood-related cancers
Wednesday, May 19, 2010 - 10:32
in Health & Medicine
A Phase I clinical trial of SNS-032, one of the first in a new class of drugs that inhibit cyclin-dependent kinases, demonstrated the drug's safety and potential clinical action against advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Cyclin-dependent kinases are enzymatic proteins that are integrally involved in cellular metabolism, renewal and signaling, and are thought to play key roles in the growth of cancers. The drug did not demonstrate any clinical effect against advanced multiple myeloma, although researchers hope it might still prove to have some benefit against this blood cancer as part of combination therapy. The paper is published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.