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Biotech / Medical : ONXX -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (706)	3/26/2001 11:34:32 PM
From: tuck	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 810

Miljenko, You have a long memory. Thanks. Cheers, Tuck

To: Miljenko Zuanic who wrote (706)	4/26/2001 7:15:08 PM
From: Miljenko Zuanic	Respond to of 810

Blockade of Raf Kinase May Be Nontoxic Way to Halt Tumor Growth -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DANA POINT, CA (Reuters Health) Apr 25 - In the future, patients with early signs of cancer may take daily medications that would prevent tumor development without causing harmful side effects, according to a presentation here at the American Cancer Society Science Writers Seminar. Dr. John Lyons, of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Richmond, California, said that phase I human tests of a Raf kinase inhibitor, BAY 43-9006, revealed no side effects at any dose tested. "Regardless of the concentration — 100 mg, 200 mg, 400 mg — as you increase the frequency and the amount of drug...you get no toxicity whatsoever," Dr. Lyons said. In a mouse model, the Raf kinase inhibitor prevented mutations in ras genes from being translated into tumor growth. "Everything has to signal through ras, and when ras gets turned on, it turns on the kinases, you activate the cascade," said Dr. Lyons. He added that inhibition of Raf kinase interrupts the specific tumor-growth cascade, without disrupting normal cell processes. Other drugs can work directly on cell membrane anchors used by Ras proteins, but other proteins also use these anchors, so blocking them causes side effects, Dr. Lyons explained. "What we are really interested in is a kinder, gentler treatment of cancer," he said. "Now that we've seen no toxicity whatsoever in patients receiving it 7 days a week, in all probability this will go into phase II trials." Unlike most current cancer treatments, a Raf kinase inhibitor would probably be taken on an ongoing basis. "In animal models, if you stop the treatment, the tumor grows back," Dr. Lyons noted. "It's a cytostatic drug."