Extracellular Targeting Of Cell Signaling In Cancer

International experts present innovative therapeutic strategies to treat cancer patients and prevent disease progression Extracellular Targeting of Cell Signaling in Cancer highlights innovative therapeutic strategies to treat cancer metastasis and prevent tumor progression. Currently, there are no drugs available to treat or prevent metastatic cancer other than non-selective, toxic chemotherapy. With contributions from an international panel of experts in the field, the book integrates diverse aspects of biochemistry, molecular biology, protein engineering, proteomics, cell biology, pharmacology, biophysics, structural biology, medicinal chemistry and drug development. A large class of proteins called kinases are enzymes required by cancer cells to grow, proliferate, and survive apoptosis (death) by the immune system. Two important kinases are MET and RON which are receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) that initiate cell signaling pathways outside the cell surface in response to extracellular ligands (growth factors.) Both kinases are oncogenes which are required by cancer cells to migrate away from the primary tumor, invade surrounding tissue and metastasize. MET and RON reside on both cancer cells and the support cells surrounding the tumor, called the microenvironment. MET and RON are activated by their particular ligands, the growth factors HGF and MSP, respectively. Blocking MET and RON kinase activation and downstream signaling is a promising therapeutic strategy for preventing tumor progression and metastasis. Written for cancer physicians and biologists as well as drug discovery and development teams in both industry and academia, this is the first book of its kind which explores novel approaches to inhibit MET and RON kinases other than traditional small molecule kinase inhibitors. These new strategies target key tumorigenic processes on the outside of the cell, such as growth factor activation by proteases. These unique strategies have promising potential as an improved alternative to kinase inhibitors, chemotherapy, or radiation treatment.

This book provides an overview of critical components of cell signaling machinery and its role in epithelial morphogenesis, proliferation, invasions and angiogenesis in human cancer and discusses novel types of protein kinase pathways.

One of the most exciting areas of cancer research now is the development of agents which can target signal transduction pathways that are activated inappropriately in malignant cells. The understanding of the molecular abnormalities which distinguish malignant cells from their normal counterparts has grown tremendously. This volume summarizes the current research on the role that signal transduction pathways play in the pathogenesis of cancer and how this knowledge may be used to develop the next generation of more effective and less toxic anticancer agents. Series Editor comments: "The biologic behavior of both normal and cancer cells is determined by critical signal transduction pathways. This text provides a comprehensive review of the field. Leading investigators discuss key molecules that may prove to be important diagnostic and/or therapeutic targets."

Cancer, which has become the second-most prevalent health issue globally, is essentially a malfunction of cell signaling. Understanding how the intricate signaling networks of cells and tissues allow cancer to thrive - and how they can be turned into potent weapons against it - is the key to managing cancer in the clinic and improving the outcome of cancer therapies. In their ground-breaking textbook, the authors provide a compelling story of how cancer works on the molecular level, and how targeted therapies using kinase inhibitors and other modulators of signaling pathways can contain and eventually cure it. The first part of the book gives an introduction into the cell and molecular biology of cancer, focusing on the key mechanisms of cancer formation. The second part of the book introduces the main signaling transduction mechanisms responsible for carcinogenesis and compares their function in healthy versus cancer cells. In contrast to the complexity of its topic, the text is easy to read. 32 specially prepared teaching videos on key concepts and pathways in cancer signaling are available online for users of the print edition and have been integrated into the text in the enhanced e-book edition.

Cancer, which has become the second-most prevalent health issue globally, is essentially a malfunction of cell signaling. Understanding how the intricate signaling networks of cells and tissues allow cancer to thrive - and how they can be turned into potent weapons against it - is the key to managing cancer in the clinic and improving the outcome of cancer therapies. In their ground-breaking textbook, the authors provide a compelling story of how cancer works on the molecular level, and how targeted therapies using kinase inhibitors and other modulators of signaling pathways can contain and eventually cure it. The first part of the book gives an introduction into the cell and molecular biology of cancer, focusing on the key mechanisms of cancer formation. The second part of the book introduces the main signaling transduction mechanisms responsible for carcinogenesis and compares their function in healthy versus cancer cells. In contrast to the complexity of its topic, the text is easy to read. 32 specially prepared teaching videos on key concepts and pathways in cancer signaling are available online.

This book presents state-of-the-art information on the molecules of cell signalling pathways that represent actual or future targets for cancer therapy. By giving an update of the most promising approaches in this rapidly evolving field, the book contributes to the translation of the recent advances in the knowledge of intracellular signalling into the generation of innovative biomolecules as specific tools to target the most promising tumour-specific candidates. The book begins logically with the molecules first encountered along the signalling pathways, the membrane receptors for growth factors (Part I). Next, Part II presents several examples of intracellular molecular targets that are situated one step beyond in the pathways, while Part III addresses the difficult task of tuning the delicate balance between cell death and survival. In Part IV, the reader is taken into the practical problems raised by the therapy of specific cancers (glioma, childhood leukaemia), and into an original strategy from the field of nuclear medicine with the potential to generate innovative molecular-targeted cancer therapies.

Cell signaling is a field that studies how cells communicate to control basic activities and respond to their environment. When looking specifically at cancer cells, researchers can gain a better understanding of cancer on a cellular level, an understanding that may have implications for developing new treatments. The current volume provides an overview of the field and how various cell biology techniques are used to better understand cancer on a cellular level. This easily accessible reference volume offers a comprehensive look at the field of cancer cell signaling. Edited by a researcher from Florida Atlantic University, Cancer Cell Signaling: Targeting Signaling Pathways Towards Therapeutic Approaches to Cancer is an authoritative and easy-to-use reference.