Warner-Lambert Researchers Say Compound Stalls Tumors in Mice
Bloomberg News
June 28, 1999, 6 p.m. ET
Warner-Lambert Researchers Say Compound Stalls Tumors in Mice
Washington, June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Warner-Lambert Co.
researchers have discovered a new drug that stalls the growth of
cancerous tumors in mice, according to a study to be published
tomorrow.
The experimental compound, which hasn't yet been tested in
humans, inhibited the growth of tumors by 53 percent to 79
percent in mice that were given varying doses. The research will
be published in the July edition of the journal Nature Medicine.
The drug, called PD 184352, works by stopping a cellular
pathway called MAPK, which is responsible for a variety of
different functions, including normal, healthy cell division. In
some kinds of cancer, MAPK is over-stimulated, prompting cells to
grow out of control.
In an accompanying editorial, three researchers from the
National Cancer Institute and the Van Andel Research Institute
said the data ''show the importance of this pathway as a target
in the war against cancer.''
The drug may also act in a similar way to anti-angiogenesis
drugs, a promising class of drugs that stops tumor growth by
cutting off a tumor's ability to grow blood vessels. MAPK plays a
role in the growth of blood vessels, the process known as
angiogenesis.
The drug could run into problems because of the wide variety
of processES that use the MAPK pathway. Inhibiting MAPK might
important cellular functions, in addition to hindering tumor
growth.
Morris Plains, New Jersey-based Warner-Lambert shares fell
7/16 to close at 62 3/4.
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