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Journal Club
Paclitaxel and Velcade: The Rationale for a Combo
Niklas Finnberg and Wafik S. El-Deiry
volume 4 | issue 6
june 2006Pages: 631-634
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Specific tumor cell death by apoptosis is a desirable outcome following treatment with chemotherapeutics. However, surprisingly little is known about the mode of action at the molecular level of how many established chemotherapeutics trigger apoptosis. Recently, a paper showed that paclitaxel, a widely used compound with a broad tumor spectrum, kills epithelial tumor cell through Bim, a pro-apoptotic BH3-only protein. Expression of H-ras conferred paclitaxel resistance by degrading Bim. Interestingly, Bim accumulation and paclitaxel sensitivity was restored by treatment with the FDA-approved proteasomal inhibitor Velcade. Thus, increased knowledge of the molecular mode of action and refined diagnosis of tumors may lead to more rational anti-cancer therapies.
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDFIf the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.