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Team Nakagawa Member & Research Highlight

Member (As of Apr, 2007)

Hidewaki Nakagawa (MD,PhD)
Chang Su-Youn (Graduate student, South Korea)
Kenji Tamura (MD, Urologist)
Masayo Hosokawa (MD, Gastroenterologist)
Motohide Uemura (MD, Urologist)
Kotoe Kashiwaya (MD, Gastroenterologist)
Satomi Uchida
Hiromi Kato

Research Highlight

　Based on the genome-wide gene expression profiles of one of the most deadly cancers, PANCREATIC CANCER and (hormone-refractory) PROSTATE CANCER, we have identified dozens of molecular target for treatment and diagnosis for these cancers, and are now investigating for their functional analysis on basic research level. Furthermore, collaborating with venture company, Oncotherapy Science, Inc. (http://www.oncotherapy.co.jp/eng/index.html), we are developing innovative anti-cancer medicines, such as antibodies, small molecular compounds, dominant-negative peptides, siRNAs and peptide vaccines, with higher efficacy and a minimum risk of adverse events based on the comprehensive research on cancer genomics and biomedical analysis (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1

Pancreatic Cancer
　Pancreatic cancer is the forth leading cause of cancer death in the western world and Japan, and shows one of the worst mortality rates among the common malignancies, with a 5-year survival rate of only 5%. In 2006, estimates are that 33,000 and nearly 18,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer are diagnosed and a roughly equal number of deaths will be attributed to pancreatic cancer in the United States and Japan, respectively.
　The great majority of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage where no effective therapy is available. Surgical resection is the only way to offer a possibility for cure at present, but 80-90% of patients who undergo curative surgery suffer from relapse and die due to the metastatic or disseminated disease. Some approaches that combine surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy can improve the quality of life of patients. However, such treatments have a very limited effect on the improvement of their long-term survival because pancreatic cancers are biologically extremely aggressive, and usually chemo- and radiation-resistant.
　On the other hand, early staged pancreatic cancer without metastasis is relatively hopeful and screening early staged pancreatic cancer is a realistic strategy against this lethal disease, but it is extremely difficult to diagnose such cases because imaging and endoscopic procedures require experienced skill, and high sensitive and specific serum makers for pancreatic cancer diagnosis is not available.
　Hence, development of novel molecular therapies or diagnostic markers for pancreatic cancer through identification of molecular targets is urgently required now.
　We generated the precise gene-expression profiles of pancreatic cancer cells (Fig.2), and through these information, we are engaged in identification and characterization of novel molecular targets for pancreatic cancer therapy and diagnosis

Prostate Cancer
　Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in males and the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and Europe. The prostate cancer incidence has been rapidly increasing in Japan and other Asian countries due to prevalence of western-style diet and explosion of the aging population.
　The screening using serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) lead to dramatic improvement of early detection of prostate cancer and resulted in an increase of the proportion of patients with a localized disease that could be curable by surgical and radiation therapies. However, 20-30% of these patients still suffer from the relapse of the disease. Prostate cancer growth is usually androgen-dependent and most of the patients with relapsed or advanced disease respond well to androgen-ablation therapy, which suppress testicular androgen production by surgical or medical castration.
　Nonetheless, they eventually acquire androgen-independent and more aggressive phenotype that has been termed hormone-refractory prostate cancers, which are basically chemo-resistant and can lead to patients’ death.
　 We generated the precise gene-expression profiles of clinical hormone-refractory prostate cancer cells (Fig. 3), and through these information, we are now attempting various approaches to identify novel molecule targets or signaling pathways that contribute to growth of hormone-refractory prostate cancers and to develop novel molecular therapies against prostate cancers.

Copyright © 2007 Yusuke Nakamura's Labo., All rights reserved.
Last update: 2007.4.12