Drug Resistance Updates RSS feed: Articles in Press. Drug Resistance Updates is a bimonthly publication that contains thought-provoking reviews and commentaries on important developments in drug resistance in infectious disease and cancer. It covers both basic research and clinical aspects of drug resistance, and involves disciplines as diverse as molecular biology, biochemistry, cell biology, pharmacology, microbiology, oncology and clinical medicine. Articles are written by leaders in the field, in response to an invitation from the Editors, and are peer-reviewed prior to publication. Articles are clear, readable, and up-to-date, suitable for a multidisciplinary readership and include schematic diagrams and other illustrations conveying the major points of the article. The goal is to highlight recent areas of growth and put them in perspective. • Reviews the best in clinical and basic drug resistance research in oncology and infectious disease • Describes emerging technologies and therapies • Highlights key references in the drug resistance literature • Features commentaries on important research articles • Emphasises common themes in microbial and cancer research Features include: • Clear, concise reviews • Interdisciplinary perspectives • Summary tables and figures to convey key points • Conference reports • Literature analysis If you have a suggestion for a review article title or wish to discuss the opportunity to publish a manuscript of your own in Drug Resistance Updates , please contact the the Publisher: andrew.miller@elsevier.com . http://www.drupjournal.com//inpress?rss=yesElsevier Inc.en © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Drug Resistance Updates1368-76462012-05-07 © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. healthpermissions@elsevier.comhttp://www.drupjournal.com/article/PIIS1368764612000192/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: A large number of patients that undergo radiotherapy develop local failure. To improve the efficacy of treatment, there is an increasing interest in combining radiotherapy with novel targeted therapies. Inhibiting the growth of new tumor blood vessels, i.e. tumor angiogenesis, is such a targeted therapy. Growing tumors induce angiogenesis to ensure an adequate delivery of oxygen and nutrients and several angiostatic drugs have been approved for the treatment of cancer patients. Both pre-clinical and clinical studies have shown that radiotherapy can influence tumor angiogenesis and that angiogenesis inhibition can potentiate the effect of radiotherapy. Therefore, the combination of angiogenesis inhibition and radiotherapy holds a promising future in cancer treatment. However, the radiosensitizing effects of angiogenesis inhibition are transient and recent findings indicate that the effects of irradiation on angiogenesis depend on the dose and treatment schedule. This raises questions regarding the scheduling of both treatment modalities in order to achieve the optimal treatment efficacy with minimal toxicity. In this review the opportunities and pitfalls of combining angiostatic agents with radiotherapy are discussed. The lessons learned from (pre)clinical studies are summarized with an emphasis on scheduling and dosing of the combination therapy. Finally, the opportunities of ongoing clinical studies are discussed and opportunities to improve the combination of angiostatic drugs with radiotherapy are presented.Combining angiogenesis inhibition and radiotherapy: A double-edged sword - Corrected ProofEsther A. Kleibeuker, Arjan W. Griffioen, Henk M. Verheul, Ben J. Slotman, Victor L. Thijssen10.1016/j.drup.2012.04.002Drug Resistance Updates (2012)2012-05-07Drug Resistance Updates2012-05-07http://www.drupjournal.com/article/PIIS1368764612000180/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are increasingly recognized as causative agents of opportunistic infections in humans. For most NTM infections the therapy of choice is drug treatment, but treatment regimens differ by species, in particular between slow (e.g. Mycobacterium avium complex, Mycobacterium kansasii) and rapid growers (e.g. Mycobacterium abscessus, Mycobacterium fortuitum). In general, drug treatment is long, costly, and often associated with drug-related toxicities; outcome of drug treatment is poor and is likely related to the high levels of natural antibiotic resistance in NTM. The role of drug susceptibility testing (DST) in the choice of agents for antimicrobial treatment of NTM disease, mainly that by slow growers, remains subject of debate. There are important discrepancies between drug susceptibility measured in vitro and the activity of the drug observed in vivo. In part, these discrepancies derive from laboratory technical issues. There is still no consensus on a standardized method. With the increasing clinical importance of NTM disease, DST of NTM is again in the spotlight. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of drug resistance in NTM, phenotypic methods for testing susceptibility in past and current use for DST of NTM, as well as molecular approaches to assess drug resistance.Resistance mechanisms and drug susceptibility testing of nontuberculous mycobacteria - Corrected ProofJakko van Ingen, Martin J. Boeree, Dick van Soolingen, Johan W. Mouton10.1016/j.drup.2012.04.001Drug Resistance Updates (2012)2012-04-23Drug Resistance Updates2012-04-23http://www.drupjournal.com/article/PIIS1368764612000179/abstract?rss=yesAbstract: Human use of antimicrobials in the clinic, community and agricultural systems has driven selection for resistance in bacteria. Resistance can be selected at antibiotic concentrations that are either lethal or non-lethal, and here we argue that selection and enrichment for antibiotic resistant bacteria is often a consequence of weak, non-lethal selective pressures – caused by low levels of antibiotics – that operates on small differences in relative bacterial fitness. Such conditions may occur during antibiotic therapy or in anthropogenically drug-polluted natural environments. Non-lethal selection increases rates of mutant appearance and promotes enrichment of highly fit mutants and stable mutators.Evolution of antibiotic resistance at non-lethal drug concentrations - Corrected ProofDan I. Andersson, Diarmaid Hughes10.1016/j.drup.2012.03.005Drug Resistance Updates (2012)2012-04-19Drug Resistance Updates2012-04-19