Publications by authors named "P Lacal"
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and lethal primary brain tumor. The standard treatment for newly diagnosed GBM includes surgical resection, when feasible, followed by radiotherapy and temozolomide-based chemotherapy. Upon disease progression, the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) monoclonal antibody bevacizumab, can be considered.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Circulating cytokines can represent non-invasive biomarkers to improve prediction of clinical outcomes of cancer patients. Here, plasma levels of IL-8, CCL4, osteopontin, LIF and BDNF were determined at baseline (T0), after 2 months of therapy (T2) and, when feasible, at progression (TP), in 70 melanoma patients treated with BRAF and MEK inhibitors. The association of baseline cytokine levels with clinical response, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Activation of neuropilin-1 (NRP-1) by PDGF-C promotes melanoma invasiveness, leading researchers to explore this interaction as a target for new treatments to reduce melanoma spread.
- By analyzing the structural similarities between PDGF-C and VEGF-A, scientists hypothesized that a specific region on NRP-1 involved in VEGF-A binding might also interact with PDGF-C.
- After screening compounds from DrugBank, two existing medications, gliclazide and entrectinib, were identified as effective in disrupting the PDGF-C/NRP-1 interaction, thereby inhibiting melanoma cell migration and invasion at non-toxic levels.
The vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their cognate receptors (VEGFRs), besides their well-known involvement in physiological angiogenesis/lymphangiogenesis and in diseases associated to pathological vessel formation, play multifaceted functions in the central nervous system (CNS). In addition to shaping brain development, by controlling cerebral vasculogenesis and regulating neurogenesis as well as astrocyte differentiation, the VEGFs/VEGFRs axis exerts essential functions in the adult brain both in physiological and pathological contexts. In this article, after describing the physiological VEGFs/VEGFRs functions in the CNS, we focus on the VEGFs/VEGFRs involvement in neurodegenerative diseases by reviewing the current literature on the rather complex VEGFs/VEGFRs contribution to the pathogenic mechanisms of Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's (PD) diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF