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Review

Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibition as a therapeutic strategy in the management of urologic malignancies

¹ Departments of Solid Tumor Oncology and Urology, Taussig Cancer Institute and Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute, Cleveland Clinic; ² Division of General Medical Sciences-Oncology and Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio

Requests for reprints: David Danielpour, Division of General Medical Sciences-Oncology and Department of Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Wolstein Research Building, Room 3532, 2103 Cornell Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106. Phone: 216-368-5670; Fax: 216-368-8919. E-mail: dxd49{at}po.cwru.edu

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a protein kinase that regulates protein translation, cell growth, and apoptosis. Recently, there has been an enormous increase in our understanding on molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutics of rapamycin in cancer. Alterations in the pathway regulating mTOR occur in many solid malignancies including prostate, bladder, and kidney cancer; in vitro and in vivo models of prostate and bladder cancer have established the importance of the mTOR pathway in control of cancer progression and metastasis. Temsirolimus (Torisel) and everolimus (RAD-001), two ester analogues of rapamycin, as well as rapamycin itself have clear antitumor activity in in vitro and in vivo models and are under clinical trial investigations for prostate and bladder cancer. Phase II and III trials have already established the clinical efficacy of temsirolimus in renal cancer, and current renal trials are evaluating the combined effects of vascular endothelial growth factor and mTOR inhibition. Ongoing studies in prostate and bladder cancer will soon define the activity and safety profiles of everolimus and temsirolimus. Recent molecular advances have uncovered a startling complexity in the macromolecular function of mTOR complexes, with the identification of new mTOR partners (raptor, rictor, FKBP38, PRAS40, and mSIN1), putative cancer therapeutic/prognostic targets for future clinical trials. [Mol Cancer Ther 2008;7(6):1347–54]

Received 12/19/07; revised 3/17/08; accepted 3/19/08.