Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

OSIP – Here’s an interesting post by Ricardouno
in reply to the NYT article on metastasis. This
has some relevance for ADH too (#msg-11187383).

>>
15-Aug-06 08:40 am

Thanks for that summary article....quite interesting.

One of the areas discussed was EMT or epithelial to mesenchymal transition.

This is an area of research of great interest which OSI is pursuing with Tarceva. It is postulated that Tarceva may be significantly more effective before EMT takes place ( that is, generally. earlier in tumor development ). It may serve as a rationale for the use of Tarceva as front-line and especially adjuvant therapy.

From the OSI website comes the following:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=70584&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=697465&highlight...

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Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) May Predict Sensitivity of Solid Tumors of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) Inhibitors such as Tarceva(TM)

Graeme Griffin et al (abstract #2313) presented pre-clinical data showing that cell lines and tumor xenografts that express epithelial markers (e.g. E-cadherin and (gamma) catenin) may be more sensitive to Tarceva (erlotinib) than cell lines and tumor xenografts that express mesenchymal markers (e.g. vimentin and fibronectin). These biological markers are associated with a process termed Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition (EMT). EMT is thought to be a marker of tumor progression, with tumors that express mesenchymal markers having a greater tendency to be invasive and metastasize than those tumors only expressing epithelial markers. Tumors expressing mesenchymal markers are thought to have a worse prognosis than tumors expressing epithelial markers. This new data supports the hypothesis that Tarceva may be effective in earlier-stage disease, such as an adjuvant or front-line setting in lung cancer, since these earlier-stage tumors are likely to be more epithelial-like in their histology. OSI, together with its alliance partners, Genentech and Roche, anticipate the initiation of clinical trials for Tarceva in both the front-line and adjuvant settings in lung cancer as part of the ongoing Tarceva clinical program.

"The implications of this work are very significant," stated Neil Gibson, Ph.D., OSI's Vice President of Research. "By understanding the role of EMT in solid tumors we believe we will be better positioned to expand the use of Tarceva to disease settings enriched with patients whose tumors are more 'epithelial' in nature thus allowing the evaluation of Tarceva across a broad range of solid tumor types such as colon cancer, breast cancer, head and neck cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. We look forward to continued pursuit of this emerging area of interest for the oncology community."
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