Progress in Prostate Cancer: Abbott Oncology

PREVIEWS IN UROLOGY Progress in Prostate Cancer: Abbott Oncology Scientists at Abbott Laboratories are working hard every day to uncover new options in cancer therapy. Abbott Oncology is committed to the discovery and development of innovative treatments to help physicians improve the lives of their cancer patients. Abbott’s commitment, in addition to targeted anticancer pharmaceuticals, includes a broad range of health care products, from supportive care products for pain management to diagnostics tests for the detection of cancer, to products that address the nutritional needs of cancer patients. detection can often lead to surgical cure, advanced prostate cancer almost always becomes refractory to currently available treatments. Research into prostate cancer has focused on hormonal methods since the early 1940s, and since that time no truly new approaches have proved successful. However, Abbott has recently researched the role of endothelin inhibition as a treatment for prostate cancer after hormonal therapy has failed. Endothelin and Prostate Cancer Cells Committed to Cancer Care Abbott has a rich history of leadership in cancer diagnosis and treatment. In 1991, Abbott began to manufacture the first prostate-specific antigen test for monitoring prostate cancer in men. Abbott recently introduced an advanced DNA-based test used to detect and quantify the HER-2 gene in breast cancer patients, and currently manufactures other diagnostic tests, patient-controlled analgesia pumps for use in pain management, and a variety of nutritional products that help meet the needs of cancer patients. Looking forward, Abbott is at the forefront of research to discover and develop targeted treatments that offer new approaches to prostate and other cancers, including oral medications, targeted drugs that can fight cancer, and compounds that are the first among new classes of cancer drugs. Abbott’s active discovery program has resulted in the identification of promising compounds that may offer new approaches to cancer therapy in the future. Its current discovery efforts are focused on several targets for the treatment of cancer: • Angiogenesis inhibition: focusing on cutting the blood supply of tumors as a method for stopping or reversing the development and spread of cancerous tumors. Abbott has investigational medications in its pipeline in phase I and preclinical study. • Apoptosis: initiating the process of programmed cell death in cancer cells that have abnormally prolonged survival. • Signal pathways: selectively targeting specific growth factor and cell signaling processes that will inhibit the reproduction, growth, and spread of cancer. Prostate Cancer—The Promise of Endothelin Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancerrelated death in men in the United States. Although early Endothelin plays a significant role in the progression of prostate cancer. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is over-expressed by prostate cancer cells, leading to higher plasma ET-1 concentrations in men with hormone-refractory prostate cancer than in healthy men or men with localized disease. Prostate cancer cells also overexpress the ETA receptor relative to normal prostate cells. ET-1 stimulates the growth of prostate cancer cells through the ETA receptor and acts synergistically with other growth factors, such as VEGF, EGF, and bFGF. ET-1 is also a mitogen for osteoblasts, promoting new bone formation and osteoblastic metastases. Abbott is advancing research in the investigation of endothelin receptor antagonists in prostate and other types of cancer. Abbott is currently conducting phase III trials for the potential use of an endothelin receptor antagonist in hormone-refractory prostate cancer patients. Ultimately, the therapy is hoped to show delay of the progression of this devastating disease. Clinical Trial Program Abbott currently has a significant clinical trial program underway into endothelin and other potential treatments for prostate and other forms of cancer. For information on the endothelin trials, physicians or patients should call 1-86-ONCOLOGY to learn more. About Abbott Abbott Laboratories is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals, and medical products, including devices and diagnostics. The company employs approximately 70,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. To learn more about Abbott products, please visit our web site at www.abbott.com. *Sponsored by Abbott Laboratories. Previews in Urology highlights topics of interest to urologists through the points of view of the companies that sponsor publication of this journal; the material has not been reviewed by the Medical and Contributing Editors.