June’s newsletter deals with the subject of cancer. Perhaps not surprisingly, articles dedicated to research for novel, effective treatments for cancer still represent the most significant proportion of articles published in Drug Discovery Today. This month, I am highlighting 3 articles; two of which deal with potential therapeutic applications of well-known enzymes and their pathways to the treatment of cancer. The third outlines technology that has, over the last decade or so, become pivotal in the investigation of signaling pathways and biochemical changes that may underpin oncogenic processes. Such approaches may become ever more important in the future as the field moves towards tailored approaches to therapy and the need for prognostic markers.

The first article, by Milosz Regulski, Katarzyna Regulska, Wieslaw Prukala, Hanna Piotrowska, Beata Stanisz and Marek Murias, of Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland entitled: “COX-2 inhibitors: a novel strategy in the management of breast cancer” reviews the role played by cyclooxygenase-2 in breast cancer pathogenesis. The review suggests that as a result of the pivotal role played by the enzyme, there is a necessity for extensive research and development of new COX-2 inhibitors by the use of in silico, in vitro and in vivo techniques as potential mono- or adjunct therapies for the treatment of this pernicious disease.

Following on from this, the second article, from Meixia Che, Ren Wang, Xiaoxing Li, Hui-Yun Wang and X.F. Steven Zheng entitled: “Expanding roles of superoxide dismutases in cell regulation and cancer” of Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, which relates how Superoxide dismutases are not only key antioxidant enzymes but they also have important roles in cell signaling, metabolism and transcription. They are involved in cancer initiation, progression and metastasis, and, as such represent exciting potential anticancer drug targets.

Finally, is the article from Matheus H. Dias, Eduardo S. Kitano, André Zelanis and Leo K. Iwai, of the Instituto Butantan and Universidade Federal, São Paulo, Brazil, entitled: “Proteomics and drug discovery in cancer “. The article discusses how, the field of proteomics has developed quickly over the past decade and its application to cancer research has considerable potential in the area of precision medicine.

Steve Carney was born in Liverpool, England and studied Biochemistry at Liverpool University, obtaining a BSc.(Hons) and then read for a PhD on the Biochemistry and Pathology of Connective Tissue Diseases in Manchester University, in the Departments of Medical Biochemistry and Histopathology. On completion of his PhD he moved to the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, London, where he worked with Professor Helen Muir FRS and Professor Tim Hardingham, on the biochemistry of experimental Osteoarthritis. He joined Eli Lilly and Co. and held a number of positions in Biology R&D, initially in the Connective Tissue Department, but latterly in the Neuroscience Department. He left Lilly to take up his present position as Managing Editor, Drug Discovery Today, at Elsevier. Currently, he also holds an honorary lectureship in Drug Discovery at the University of Surrey, UK. He has authored over 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals, written several book chapters and has held a number of patents. Currently no news on the tenor horn front, although this may change at the weekend, when a good result is expected at the West of England Championships. Enough to get back into the top 200 in the World? We shall see. Watch this space.