Escaping immune surveillance in cancer: is denbinobin the panacea?

Abstract

The bane of anti-cancer therapy is usually the development of resistance to apoptosis in malignant cells. Identification of strategies to re-sensitize cancer cells to apoptosis has now become a top priority in anti-cancer research. Denbinobin is a novel, naturally occurring phenathroquinone isolated from orchids of the genus Dendrobium that has remarkable anti-cancer activities demonstrated both in vitro and in vivo. Recently denbinobin has been shown to diminish the levels of expression of the decoy receptor-3 and also to act synergistically with Fas ligand to induce apoptosis in a pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line. There is hope that denbinobin could be developed as an adjuvant in combination therapies aimed at killing cancers that rely on decoy receptors to evade the host's immune surveillance.

• Authors: Tapiwanashe Magwere
• Journal: British journal of pharmacology (Br J Pharmacol) Vol. 157 Issue 7 Pg. 1172-4 (Aug 2009) ISSN: 1476-5381 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 19664137 (Publication Type: Comment, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Anthraquinones
• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
• Fas Ligand Protein
• Phenanthrenes
• Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Member 6b
• TNFRSF6B protein, human
• denbinobin

Topics

• Adenocarcinoma (immunology, metabolism, pathology)
• Anthraquinones (pharmacology)
• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic (pharmacology)
• Apoptosis
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Drug Synergism
• Fas Ligand Protein (pharmacology)
• Humans
• Pancreatic Neoplasms (immunology, metabolism, pathology)
• Phenanthrenes (pharmacology)
• Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor, Member 6b (biosynthesis)
• Tumor Escape