Immunotherapy or biological therapy is the treatment of disease by activating or suppressing the immune system. Immunotherapies designed to elicit or amplify an immune response are classified as activation immunotherapies, while immunotherapies that reduce or suppress are classified as suppression immunotherapies. Immunotherapy is under preliminary research for its potential to treat various forms of cancer.
Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer; it develops from the melanin-producing cells known as melanocytes. It typically occurs in the skin, but may rarely occur in the mouth, intestines, or eye. In women, melanomas most commonly occur on the legs; while in men, on the back. Melanoma is frequently referred to as malignant melanoma. However, the medical community stresses that there is no such thing as a 'benign melanoma' and recommends that the term 'malignant melanoma' should be avoided as redundant.
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a class of drugs used in the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women and in men, and gynecomastia in men. They may also be used off-label to reduce estrogen conversion when supplementing testosterone exogenously. They may also be used for chemoprevention in women at high risk for breast cancer.
Cancer immunotherapy (immuno-oncotherapy) is the stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer, improving the immune system's natural ability to fight the disease. It is an application of the fundamental research of cancer immunology (immuno-oncology) and a growing subspecialty of oncology.
An angiogenesis inhibitor is a substance that inhibits the growth of new blood vessels (angiogenesis). Some angiogenesis inhibitors are endogenous and a normal part of the body's control and others are obtained exogenously through pharmaceutical drugs or diet.
Ellagic acid is a polyphenol found in numerous fruits and vegetables. It is the dilactone of hexahydroxydiphenic acid.
Mevastatin is a hypolipidemic agent that belongs to the statins class.
Polysaccharide peptide (PSP) is a protein-bound polysaccharide extracted from the edible mushroom Coriolus versicolor. PSP is currently in the animal-testing phase of research in many countries for use as an anti-tumor drug. It appears to work as a biological response modifier (BRM), enhancing the body's own use of macrophages and T-lymphocytes, rather than directly attacking any tumors.
G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER), also known as G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GPER gene. GPER binds to and is activated by the female sex hormone estradiol and is responsible for some of the rapid effects that estradiol has on cells.
Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) also known as serpin F1 (SERPINF1), is a multifunctional secreted protein that has anti-angiogenic, anti-tumorigenic, and neurotrophic functions. Found in vertebrates, this 50 kDa protein is being researched as a therapeutic candidate for treatment of such conditions as choroidal neovascularization, heart disease, and cancer. In humans, pigment epithelium-derived factor is encoded by the SERPINF1 gene.
Tyrosine-protein kinase receptor UFO is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the AXL gene. The gene was initially designated as UFO, in allusion to the unidentified function of this protein. However, in the years since its discovery, research into AXL's expression profile and mechanism has made it an increasingly attractive target, especially for cancer therapeutics. In recent years, AXL has emerged as a key facilitator of immune escape and drug-resistance by cancer cells, leading to aggressive and metastatic cancers.
CDKN2A, also known as cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A, is a gene which in humans is located at chromosome 9, band p21.3. It is ubiquitously expressed in many tissues and cell types. The gene codes for two proteins, including the INK4 family member p16 and p14arf. Both act as tumor suppressors by regulating the cell cycle. p16 inhibits cyclin dependent kinases 4 and 6 and thereby activates the retinoblastoma (Rb) family of proteins, which block traversal from G1 to S-phase. p14ARF activates the p53 tumor suppressor. Somatic mutations of CDKN2A are common in the majority of human cancers, with estimates that CDKN2A is the second most commonly inactivated gene in cancer after p53. Germline mutations of CDKN2A are associated with familial melanoma, glioblastoma and pancreatic cancer. The CDKN2A gene also contains one of 27 SNPs associated with increased risk of coronary artery disease.
Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is a dihydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid. It is a major metabolite of antioxidant polyphenols found in green tea. It has mixed effects on normal and cancer cells in in vitro and in vivo studies.
Polypoid melanoma is a rare cutaneous condition, a virulent variant of nodular melanoma. Polypoid melanoma is a subtype of nodular melanoma, the most aggressive form of melanoma.
Pleurotus pulmonarius, commonly known as the Indian oyster, Italian oyster, phoenix mushroom, or the lung oyster, is a mushroom very similar to Pleurotus ostreatus, the pearl oyster, but with a few noticeable differences. The caps of pulmonarius are much paler and smaller than ostreatus and develops more of a stem. P. pulmonarius also prefers warmer weather than ostreatus and will appear later in the summer. Otherwise, the taste and cultivation of the two species is generally described as largely the same. Another similar species, North America's Pleurotus populinus, is restricted to growing on aspen and cottonwood.
Polysaccharide-K is a protein-bound polysaccharide isolated from the mycelium of Trametes versicolor.
Hispidin is a natural substance. It can also be synthesized.
Medicinal fungi are fungi that contain metabolites or can be induced to produce metabolites through biotechnology to develop prescription drugs. Compounds successfully developed into drugs or under research include antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, cholesterol and ergosterol synthesis inhibitors, psychotropic drugs, immunosuppressants and fungicides.
Pholiota adiposa is a slimy, scaly, yellow-brown mushroom. It is edible, and found in North America, Europe, and Asia. It grows parasitically or saprotrophically, most often on beech species, fruiting in bunches between August and November. Several compounds produced by this mushroom, for example methyl gallate, are of interest for their medicinal properties.
Ze’ev Ronai is an Israeli-American cancer research scientist and Chief Scientific Advisor at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla.
