Bridget Robinson

Last updated

Bridget Robinson

Alma mater University of Otago
Scientific career
Fields Oncology
Institutions University of Otago
Thesis

Bridget Anne Robinson ONZM is a New Zealand oncology academic. As of 2018, she is a full professor at the University of Otago, [1] holding the Mackenzie Chair since 2010. [2]

Contents

Academic career

After a 1985 MD titled 'Effects of vasoactive agents on tumour blood flow and cytotoxic drug uptake' at the University of Otago, followed by a 1987 PhD of the same title, [3] Robinson joined the staff in Christchurch in 1997, rising to full professor. [1]

In the 2009 New Year Honours, Robinson was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to medicine. [4] [5]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

Fluorouracil (5-FU), sold under the brand name Adrucil among others, is a cytotoxic chemotherapy medication used to treat cancer. By intravenous injection it is used for treatment of colorectal cancer, oesophageal cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, and cervical cancer. As a cream it is used for actinic keratosis, basal cell carcinoma, and skin warts.

Bevacizumab, sold under the brand name Avastin among others, is a medication used to treat a number of types of cancers and a specific eye disease. For cancer, it is given by slow injection into a vein (intravenous) and used for colon cancer, lung cancer, glioblastoma, and renal-cell carcinoma. In many of these diseases it is used as a first-line therapy. For age-related macular degeneration it is given by injection into the eye (intravitreal).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oxaliplatin</span> Pharmaceutical drug

Oxaliplatin, sold under the brand name Eloxatin among others, is a cancer medication used to treat colorectal cancer. It is given by injection into a vein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Targeted therapy</span> Type of therapy

Targeted therapy or molecularly targeted therapy is one of the major modalities of medical treatment (pharmacotherapy) for cancer, others being hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific targeted molecules needed for carcinogenesis and tumor growth, rather than by simply interfering with all rapidly dividing cells. Because most agents for targeted therapy are biopharmaceuticals, the term biologic therapy is sometimes synonymous with targeted therapy when used in the context of cancer therapy. However, the modalities can be combined; antibody-drug conjugates combine biologic and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.

A chemotherapy regimen is a regimen for chemotherapy, defining the drugs to be used, their dosage, the frequency and duration of treatments, and other considerations. In modern oncology, many regimens combine several chemotherapy drugs in combination chemotherapy. The majority of drugs used in cancer chemotherapy are cytostatic, many via cytotoxicity.

FOLFIRI is a chemotherapy regimen for treatment of colorectal cancer. It is made up of the following drugs:

Panitumumab, sold under the brand name Vectibix, is a fully human monoclonal antibody specific to the epidermal growth factor receptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semaxanib</span> Chemical compound

Semaxanib (SU5416) is a tyrosine-kinase inhibitor drug designed by SUGEN as a cancer therapeutic. It is an experimental stage drug, not licensed for use on human patients outside clinical trials. Semaxanib is a potent and selective synthetic inhibitor of the Flk-1/KDR vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinase. It targets the VEGF pathway, and both in vivo and in vitro studies have demonstrated antiangiogenic potential.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cediranib</span> Chemical compound

Cediranib is a potent inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor tyrosine kinases.

Jessica Kandel is the Surgeon-in-Chief, University of Chicago Medical Center Comer Children's Hospital, Mary Campau Ryerson Professor of Surgery and Chief, Section of Pediatric Surgery, and the Vice-Chair for Pediatric Surgical Services, appointed August 1, 2013.

Aflibercept, sold under the brand names Eylea and Zaltrap, is a medication used to treat wet macular degeneration and metastatic colorectal cancer. It was developed by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and is approved in the United States and the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selective internal radiation therapy</span>

Selective internal radiation therapy (SIRT), also known as transarterial radioembolization (TARE), radioembolization or intra-arterial microbrachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy used in interventional radiology to treat cancer. It is generally for selected patients with surgically unresectable cancers, especially hepatocellular carcinoma or metastasis to the liver. The treatment involves injecting tiny microspheres of radioactive material into the arteries that supply the tumor, where the spheres lodge in the small vessels of the tumor. Because this treatment combines radiotherapy with embolization, it is also called radioembolization. The chemotherapeutic analogue is called chemoembolization, of which transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the usual form.

Ramucirumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody (IgG1) developed for the treatment of solid tumors. This drug was developed by ImClone Systems Inc. It was isolated from a native phage display library from Dyax.

Tigatuzumab (CS-1008) is a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of cancer. As of October 2009, a clinical trial for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, Phase II trials for colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and ovarian cancer have been completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vatalanib</span>

Vatalanib is a small molecule protein kinase inhibitor that inhibits angiogenesis. It is being studied as a possible treatment for several types of cancer, particularly cancer that is at an advanced stage or has not responded to chemotherapy. Vatalanib is orally active, that is, it is effective when taken by mouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napoleone Ferrara</span> Italian-American molecular biologist

Napoleone Ferrara, is an Italian-American molecular biologist who joined University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a career in Northern California at the biotechnology giant Genentech, where he pioneered the development of new treatments for angiogenic diseases such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic retinopathy. At Genentech, he discovered VEGF—and made the first anti-VEGF antibody—which suppresses growth of a variety of tumors. These findings helped lead to development of the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor, bevacizumab (Avastin), which prevents the growth of new blood vessels into a solid tumor and which has become part of standard treatment for a variety of cancers. Ferrara's work led also to the development of ranibizumab (Lucentis), a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.

Targeted therapy of lung cancer refers to using agents specifically designed to selectively target molecular pathways responsible for, or that substantially drive, the malignant phenotype of lung cancer cells, and as a consequence of this (relative) selectivity, cause fewer toxic effects on normal cells.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motesanib</span> Chemical compound

Motesanib is an experimental drug candidate originally developed by Amgen but later investigated by the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. It is an orally administered small molecule belonging to angiokinase inhibitor class which acts as an antagonist of VEGF receptors, platelet-derived growth factor receptors, and stem cell factor receptors. It is used as the phosphate salt motesanib diphosphate. After clinical trials in thyroid cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, gastrointestinal stromal cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, the drug was not found to show sufficient efficacy for further development, and development was abandoned by Takeda.

Anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy, also known as anti-VEGF therapy or medication, is the use of medications that block vascular endothelial growth factor. This is done in the treatment of certain cancers and in age-related macular degeneration. They can involve monoclonal antibodies such as bevacizumab, antibody derivatives such as ranibizumab (Lucentis), or orally-available small molecules that inhibit the tyrosine kinases stimulated by VEGF: sunitinib, sorafenib, axitinib, and pazopanib.

Annette Therese Byrne is an Irish physiologist, Professor and Head of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) Precision Cancer Medicine group. Her research considers metastatic colorectal cancer and glioblastoma.

References

  1. 1 2 Christchurch, University of Otago. "Professor Bridget A. Robinson". www.otago.ac.nz.
  2. "Oncologist takes new position". 4 September 2010.
  3. Robinson, Bridget (1987). Effects of vasoactive agents on tumour blood flow and cytotoxic drug uptake (Doctoral thesis). OUR Archive, University of Otago. hdl:10523/9570.
  4. "Beijing medals reflected in New Year Honours". 31 December 2008.
  5. "Governor-General holds South Island investiture - Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz.