Translational research to realize the full potential of novel agents--an opportunity for vinflunine?

In the past few years, innumerable novel anti-cancer agents have been developed. Some of them have successfully entered into clinical practice while some of them have failed for different reasons. Although, nowadays, cancer treatment still relies heavily on conventional chemotherapy and surgery, with increasing evidence of novel biologic agents which demonstrate its higher anti-cancer activity and fewer side effects, more and more efforts have been spent on development of different types of novel agents. Vinflunine, a novel fluorinated vinca alkaloid, carries mitotic-arresting and tubulin-interacting properties and was just approved for treating transitional cell carcinoma of the urothelial tract (TCCU) in Europe. It, however, took quite a long time to get an approval. Needless to say, TCCU, similar to other types of cancer, is a very complex and heterogeneous disease and therefore, a single drug can hardly eradicate a cancer. Translational research, a new scientific research method, creates a link between clinical and laboratory studies. The link helps us to investigate the change in tumor environment in response to treatment, select patients who are more responsive to a particular treatment and predict prognosis of a group of patients with similar tumor characteristics. It can not only improve the success of a treatment, but also maximize the potential of novel anti-cancer agents.