Study may help physicians determine how patients will respond to immunomodulator therapy for multiple myeloma

ScienceDaily (Dec. 11, 2011) — Research on the same protein that was a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide now holds hope in the battle against multiple myeloma, says the study's senior investigator, Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B. of Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Dr. Stewart presented the results at the 53rd annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology in San Diego.

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See Also:

Health & Medicine

• Cancer
• Leukemia
• Diseases and Conditions
• Birth Defects
• Multiple Sclerosis Research
• Pharmacology

Reference

• Bone marrow transplant
• Heat shock protein
• Transplant rejection
• Diabetes mellitus type 2

The drug thalidomide achieved infamy in the early 1960s as the cause of severe birth defects after being given to pregnant mothers for morning sickness. However, this drug, along with the highly related compounds lenalidomide and pomalidomide, also help to treat blood cancers, and are used worldwide as a cornerstone of therapy for the bone marrow cancer multiple myeloma. These drugs modulate the immune system and together are called immunomodulators or IMiDs.

The exact mechanisms and targets through which these therapies work to enhance immune response or kill cancer cells have been largely unknown. As a result, knowing which patients to treat and how to separate out the positive properties of these drugs from side effects has been impossible.

After recent research identified a protein known as cereblon as a primary mediator of the birth defects caused by thalidomide, researchers theorized that cereblon may also orchestrate the anti-tumor properties and be the primary therapeutic target for multiple myeloma.

via sciencedaily.com

Usually when I make a post I know exactly what I want to say. I know what my opinion is and how I want it said. But today this article caught my eye and I find myself very confused as to why I want to post about it.

Maybe it's because I was born in the early 1960s and I have seen many thalidomide babies, as they have come to be known. I know what these birth defects look like. What a tragedy it must have been for the parents when they discovered the horrible side-effects of the drug thalidomide.

Also, cancer itself is so devastating. If closely related compounds can help to treat blood cancers, then that is definitely good news. Being a chemist myself, I am very interested in compounds and how they interact with our physiologies. We need to be especially careful and tread with much caution when trying out new treatments.