Temozolomide (brand names Temodar and Temodal Schering-Plough Corporation) is an oral alkylating agent which can be used for the treatment of Grade IV astrocytoma -- an aggressive brain tumor, also known as glioblastoma multiforme. The agent was developed by Malcolm Stevens and his team at Aston University in Birmingham, UK.[1] A derivative of imidazotetrazine, temozolomide is the prodrug of MTIC (3-methyl-(triazen-1-yl)imidazole-4-carboxamide). It has been available in the US since August 1999, and in other countries since the early 2000s.
A 2005 study has showed that its benefits depend on the epigenetic silencing of the MGMT gene; MGMT encodes a protein that removes alkyl groups from the O-6 position of guanine
Source: Wikipedia
When I came across this Research paper "Genomic and Molecular Profiling Predicts Response to Temozolomide in Melanoma", I contacted Dr. Christina Augustine.
Christina Augustine, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Duke University Medical Center
Box 3118 Med Ctr
Durham NC 27710
(919) 286.0411 x 5191
christi.augustine@duke.edu
Temozolomide is the only chemo drug of it's kind to cross over the Brain/blood barrier. If you could predict which patients will
respond to Temozolomide, then you could help those with the right genotype.
"With the increasing incidence of melanoma and the historicallypoor
response rates to traditional chemotherapy, it is important
to develop tools that can be used prospectively to
characterize apatient’s tumor with regard to chemoresistance
pathways.The findings in this study show striking differences
in terms of DNA repair pathway efficiency and temozolomide
response across a broad sampling of melanoma cell lines and
that, in melanoma, resistance to temozolomide is conferred
largely by the activity of the DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine-
DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Our results suggest that MGMT expression could potentially be a useful tool for personalizing treatment strategies in melanoma patients by identifying those patients most likely to respond to temozolomide and those patients for whom combination therapy
or alternative chemotherapeutic reagentsmight be desirable."
I will post the paper on Melanoma Missionary
Jimmy B
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