Optimization of Highly Kinase Selective Bis-anilino Pyrimidine PAK1 Inhibitors.

Group I p21-activated kinase (PAK) inhibitors are indicated as important in cancer progression, but achieving high kinase selectivity has been challenging. A bis-anilino pyrimidine PAK1 inhibitor was identified and optimized through structure-based drug design to improve PAK1 potency and achieve high kinase selectivity, giving in vitro probe compound AZ13705339 (18). Reduction of lipophilicity to lower clearance afforded AZ13711265 (14) as an in vivo probe compound with oral exposure in mouse. Such probes will allow further investigation of PAK1 biology.

Is postexcision, preradiation mammogram necessary in patients after breast-conserving surgery with negative margins.

BACKGROUND: In women with breast cancer and calcifications, controversy exists over the need for postexcision/lumpectomy, preradiation mammogram (PEM) after breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Further, the need for excision of remaining or suspicious calcifications after PEM when surgical margins are negative is unclear. We sought to characterize the utility of PEM hypothesizing that its value in directing the need for additional surgery is minimized after achieving negative surgical margins. METHODS: We identified 524 women with breast cancer and calcifications treated with BCS with negative margins between 1996 and 2011. RESULTS: PEM was performed in 112 of 524 (21 %) women, with residual calcifications identified in 10 of 112 (9 %); of these, 2 of 112 (1.8 %) had residual disease. Local recurrence occurred in 4 of 112 (4 %) patients, none of whom had residual calcifications identified on PEM. The remaining 412 of 524 (79 %) women did not have PEM but had a postradiation mammogram 6 to 12 months after treatment identifying calcifications in 19 (5 %) women. Tissue diagnosis was benign in 14 women and was not pursued in the remaining 5. Local recurrence occurred in 13 (3 %) patients, none of whom had calcifications on the new post radiation baseline mammogram. CONCLUSIONS: Mammographically apparent calcifications representing residual disease occur infrequently after BCS with negative margins. The value of PEM may be to document the new radiographic baseline but should not be required to ensure adequate surgery. Radiation plays an integral role in sterilization of the remaining breast tissue after BCS.

Discovery of AZD3514, a small-molecule androgen receptor downregulator for treatment of advanced prostate cancer.

Removal of the basic piperazine nitrogen atom, introduction of a solubilising end group and partial reduction of the triazolopyridazine moiety in the previously-described lead androgen receptor downregulator 6-[4-(4-cyanobenzyl)piperazin-1-yl]-3-(trifluoromethyl)[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazine (1) addressed hERG and physical property issues, and led to clinical candidate 6-(4-{4-[2-(4-acetylpiperazin-1-yl)ethoxy]phenyl}piperidin-1-yl)-3-(trifluoromethyl)-7,8-dihydro[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-b]pyridazine (12), designated AZD3514, that is being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial in patients with castrate-resistant prostate cancer.

Primary prevention of cannabis use: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

A systematic review of primary prevention was conducted for cannabis use outcomes in youth and young adults. The aim of the review was to develop a comprehensive understanding of prevention programming by assessing universal, targeted, uni-modal, and multi-modal approaches as well as individual program characteristics. Twenty-eight articles, representing 25 unique studies, identified from eight electronic databases (EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, DRUG, EBM Reviews, and Project CORK), were eligible for inclusion. Results indicated that primary prevention programs can be effective in reducing cannabis use in youth populations, with statistically significant effect sizes ranging from trivial (0.07) to extremely large (5.26), with the majority of significant effect sizes being trivial to small. Given that the preponderance of significant effect sizes were trivial to small and that percentages of statistically significant and non-statistically significant findings were often equivalent across program type and individual components, the effectiveness of primary prevention for cannabis use should be interpreted with caution. Universal multi-modal programs appeared to outperform other program types (i.e, universal uni-modal, targeted multi-modal, targeted unimodal). Specifically, universal multi-modal programs that targeted early adolescents (10-13 year olds), utilised non-teacher or multiple facilitators, were short in duration (10 sessions or less), and implemented boosters sessions were associated with large median effect sizes. While there were studies in these areas that contradicted these results, the results highlight the importance of assessing the interdependent relationship of program components and program types. Finally, results indicated that the overall quality of included studies was poor, with an average quality rating of 4.64 out of 9. Thus, further quality research and reporting and the development of new innovative programs are required.

Synthesis and evaluation of PEG414, a novel formulating agent that avoids analytical problems associated with polydisperse vehicles such as PEG400.

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 is widely used as a formulating agent for both intravenous and oral studies during drug discovery. It is a polydisperse material containing more than 16 oligomers, which can cause significant problems for high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis due to ion suppression and isobaric interference. To overcome these difficulties, we have synthesized the single oligomer PEG414. The material has been characterized with a range of diverse drug compounds and shown to be comparable to PEG400 and superior to propylene glycol in terms of its solubilization power. The toxicological and metabolic properties of PEG414 should be similar to PEG400. It suffers none of the analytical problems associated with polydisperse agents and we expect it to be a useful alternative for the formulation of test compounds for intravenous and oral dosing during drug discovery.