Targeting signal transduction for disease therapy.

With the advance in the molecular understanding of disease processes, it has been appreciated that many diseases result from the malfunctions of signaling pathways. This recognition has led to intensive research and the development of therapies based on the interception of cellular signaling in diseased cells. In the past two years, success has been achieved using a blocker of the farnesylation of Ras as a tumor inhibitor, a JAK-2 blocker as an efficient inhibitor of recurrent pre-B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and a platelet-derived growth factor receptor kinase as a blocker of restenosis.