AFINITOR is a once-daily oral inhibitor of mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) whose disease has progressed on or after treatment with VEGF-targeted therapy
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Cell Metabolism
mTOR regulates cell metabolism
Research has shown that mTOR plays a key role in regulating cell metabolism.1-3 In many cancers, mTOR is inappropriately "switched on" due to the abnormal activation of one or more of the upstream signaling pathways that regulate mTOR activity. As a result, mTOR's ability to inhibit protein synthesis and arrest growth when nutrients are scarce becomes compromised.3
Abnormally activated mTOR may give cancer cells a competitive growth advantage by increasing:
- Angiogenesis, which increases the number of blood vessels through which nutrients can reach the cell1,3
- Production of nutrient transporter proteins; this increases the cell's ability to import essential nutrients1,3
- Production of the core enzymes necessary for glycolysis, which enables cancer cells to survive and grow under hypoxic conditions3
Increased glucose uptake and glycolysis has been shown to correlate with poor prognosis and increased invasiveness and metastatic potential in a number of tumor types.4
mTOR inhibitors may be able to help. See how AFINITOR works. View the key data about AFINITOR, including results for progression-free survival and demonstrated efficacy.
References
1. Wullschleger S, Loewith R, Hall MN. TOR signaling in growth and metabolism. Cell. 2006;124:471-484.
2. Shaw RJ, Cantley LC. Ras, PI(3)K and mTOR signalling controls tumour cell growth. Nature. 2006;441:424-430.
3. Shaw RJ. Glucose metabolism in cancer. Curr Op Cell Biol. 2006;18:598-608.
4. Gatenby RA, Gillies RJ. Why do cancers have high aerobic glycolysis? Nat Rev Cancer. 2004;4:891-899.
