The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Neuroblastoma (NB) is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue. It most frequently starts from one of the adrenal glands but can also develop in the neck, chest, abdomen, or spine. Symptoms may include bone pain, a lump in the abdomen, neck, or chest, or a painless bluish lump under the skin.
A blastoma is a type of cancer, more common in children, that is caused by malignancies in precursor cells, often called blasts. Examples are nephroblastoma, medulloblastoma, and retinoblastoma. The suffix -blastoma is used to imply a tumor of primitive, incompletely differentiated cells, e.g., chondroblastoma is composed of cells resembling the precursor of chondrocytes.
Alefacept is a genetically engineered immunosuppressive drug. It was sold under the brand name Amevive in Canada, the United States, Israel, Switzerland and Australia. In 2011, the manufacturers made a decision to cease promotion, manufacturing, distribution and sales of Amevive during a supply disruption. According to Astellas Pharma US, Inc., the decision to cease Amevive sales was neither the result of any specific safety concern nor the result of any FDA-mandated or voluntary product recall. On the other hand, usage of Amevive was associated with a certain risk of development systemic diseases such as malignancies. This drug was never approved for the European drug market.
Iobenguane, or MIBG, is an aralkylguanidine analog of the adrenergic neurotransmitter norepinephrine (noradrenaline), typically used as a radiopharmaceutical. It acts as a blocking agent for adrenergic neurons. When radiolabeled, it can be used in nuclear medicinal diagnostic and therapy techniques as well as in neuroendocrine chemotherapy treatments.
CD226, PTA1 or DNAM-1 is a ~65 kDa immunoglobulin-like transmembrane glycoprotein expressed on the surface of natural killer cells, NK T cell, B cells, dendritic cells, hematopoietic precursor cells, platelets, monocytes and T cells.
Ming-Ming Zhou, Ph.D., is a scientist who focuses on structural and chemical biology, NMR spectroscopy and drug design. He is currently the Dr. Harold and Golden Lamport Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacological Sciences and Co-Director of the Drug Discovery Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Health System in New York City as well as Professor of Sciences.
Targeted molecular therapy for neuroblastoma involves treatment aimed at molecular targets that have a unique expression in this form of cancer. Neuroblastoma, the second most common pediatric malignant tumor, often involves treatment through intensive chemotherapy. A number of molecular targets have been identified for the treatment of high-risk forms of this disease. Aiming treatment in this way provides a more selective way to treat the disease, decreasing the risk for toxicities that are associated with the typical treatment regimen. Treatment using these targets can supplement or replace some of the intensive chemotherapy that is used for neuroblastoma. These molecular targets of this disease include GD2, ALK, and CD133. GD2 is a target of immunotherapy, and is the most fully developed of these treatment methods, but is also associated with toxicities. ALK has more recently been discovered, and drugs in development for this target are proving to be successful in neuroblastoma treatment. The role of CD133 in neuroblastoma has also been more recently discovered and is an effective target for treatment of this disease.
Frank J. Rauscher III, Ph.D. was a researcher at The Wistar Institute in Philadelphia. Rauscher is also a professor of genetics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He graduated from Moravian College in 1979. His research focuses on mechanisms responsible for gene silencing during development and homeostasis and disruptions associated with the initiation of tumors.
Eliezer (Eli) Huberman, Ph.D., is the founder, scientific director, and CEO of Novadrug LLC, a Chicago-based pharmaceutical firm. He is currently an adjunct professor in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois.
Cancer/testis (CT) antigens are a group of proteins united by their importance in development and in cancer immunotherapy. In general, expression of these proteins is restricted to male germ cells in the adult animal. However, in cancer these developmental antigens are often re-expressed and can serve as a locus of immune activation. Thus, they are often classified as tumor antigens. The expression of CT antigens in various malignancies is heterogeneous and often correlates with tumor progression. CT antigens have been described in melanoma, liver cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, and pediatric tumors such as neuroblastoma. Gametogenesis offers an important role for many of these antigens in the differentiation, migration, and cell division of primordial germ cells, spermatogonia spermatocytes and spermatids. Because of their tumor-restricted expression and strong in vivo immunogenicity, CT antigens are identified as ideal targets for tumor specific immunotherapeutic approaches and prompted the development of several clinical trials of CT antigens-based vaccine therapy. CT antigens have been found to have at least 70 families so far, including about 140 members, most of which are expressed during spermatogenesis. Their expression are mainly regulated by epigenetic events, specifically, DNA methylation.
Sheila K. Singh MD, PhD, FRCSC is a chief pediatric neurosurgeon at McMaster Children's Hospital in Ontario, Canada. She is also Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry, the Division Head of Neurosurgery at Hamilton Health Sciences, the Research Director for McMaster's Division of Neurosurgery, and a scientist/principal investigator appointed to the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute at McMaster University.
Duane A. Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D. is an American physician-scientist and university professor. He is currently employed at the University of Florida College of Medicine, in Gainesville, Florida as the Assistant Vice President for Research, Associate Dean for Translational Science and Clinical Research, and Director of the University of Florida (UF) Clinical and Translational Science Institute. He is the Phyllis Kottler Friedman Professor in the Lillian S. Wells Department of Neurosurgery. and Co-Director of the Preston A. Wells, Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy. Dr. Mitchell is also the Founder, President, and Chairman of iOncologi, Inc., a biotechnology company in Gainesville, FL specializing in immuno-oncology.
Carol Shoshkes Reiss, an American viral immunologist, has been professor in New York University's department of biology since 1991. Her research focused on the dynamic contest between the mouse immune system and virus replication during infection of the central nervous system. Reiss was editor-in-chief of the journal Viral Immunology (2000–2006) and is currently editor-in-chief of the journal DNA and Cell Biology (2012–present).
Esta Sterneck is an Austrian molecular biologist researching the functions of the C/EBPδ][CEBPD transcription factor as tumor suppressor as well as tumor promoter in breast epithelial cells and cells of the tumor microenvironment. She is a senior investigator and head of the molecular mechanisms in development section at the National Cancer Institute.
Rosandra N. Kaplan is an American pediatric oncologist and scientist specialized in translational and clinical research on the mechanisms of cancer spread. She is a principal investigator and head of the tumor microenvironment and metastasis branch at the National Cancer Institute.
Kathleen Jacobs Kelly is an American biologist specializing in genetic regulation of cell growth, cancer progression, and metastasis. She is chief of the laboratory of genitourinary cancer pathogenesis (LGCP) and deputy director of the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research.
Li Yang is an American biologist researching how inflammation in the premetastatic environment modifies cancer cell colonization. She is a senior investigator and head of the tumor microenvironment section at the National Cancer Institute.
John Matthew Maris is an American pediatric oncologist. He is the Giulio D’Angio Endowed Professor of Pediatrics at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Full Professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Andrew Ewald is a professor of cell biology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is known for his contributions in the field of metastatic breast cancer research.
