Steven Grant.

Division of hermatology , Department of Pharmacology and Microbiology , Medical College of Virginia

Received 5/23/97; Accepted 5/28/97

6. FUTURE DIRECTIONS

The completion of phase I trials of bryostatin 1 (39-41) has set the stage for the development of successor studies in which bryostatin 1 and related compounds will be combined with other agents, based upon their ability to facilitate apoptosis. For example, the PKC inhibitor safingol has recently been reported to enhance mitomycin C-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells (111). This suggests that interruption of the PKC pathway, either by down-regulation or direct inhibition, may promote apoptosis in tumors of epithelial cell origin, and in response to agents other than ara-C.