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Drugs interfering with apoptosis in breast cancer

Daniela Grimm1, Markus Wehland, Jessica Pietsch

  • 1Department of Pharmacology, Aarhus University, Denmark. daniela.grimm@farm.au.dk

Current Pharmaceutical Design
|February 26, 2011
PubMed

Insights

This review explores novel drugs targeting apoptosis for breast cancer treatment. It covers agents affecting death receptors, Bcl-2 family pathways, and DNA repair enzymes like PARP inhibitors.

Area of Science:

  • Cellular Biology
  • Molecular Oncology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Apoptosis is crucial for development, homeostasis, and disease, including cancer.
  • Cellular apoptosis can be triggered extrinsically via death receptors or intrinsically via mitochondria.
  • Key apoptosis regulators are identified and represent therapeutic targets.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent drug developments targeting apoptosis for breast cancer treatment.
  • To discuss novel agents interfering with apoptosis pathways.
  • To examine their role in tumor biology and clinical studies.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent advancements in apoptosis-targeting drugs.
  • Analysis of agents targeting extrinsic (death receptor) and intrinsic (Bcl-2 family) pathways.
  • Discussion of Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.

Main Results:

  • Novel drugs targeting apoptosis pathways are in clinical use or trials for breast cancer.
  • Agents include those affecting Fas, TNF-alpha, TRAIL, Bcl-2 family proteins, and PARP inhibitors.
  • These drugs offer new therapeutic strategies by modulating programmed cell death.

Conclusions:

  • Targeting apoptosis pathways presents promising therapeutic strategies for breast cancer.
  • Understanding drug mechanisms and clinical efficacy is vital for advancing treatment.
  • Further research into these novel agents will refine breast cancer therapy.

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