Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Ubenimex is a protease inhibitor


Ubenimex (INN), also known by the brand name bestatin, is a competitive protease inhibitor. It is an inhibitor of aminopeptidase B, leukotriene A4 hydrolase, and aminopeptidase N. It is derived from Streptomyces olivoreticuli.
An immunomodulating agent, ubenimex has low toxicity even after long-term oral administration and brings about significant modifications in immunological response. In a cooperative randomized controlled study of ubenimex  immunotherapy for adult acute nonlymphocytic leukemia, prolongation of remission duration and survival was achieved with ubenimex  immunotherapy combined with remission maintenance chemotherapy. The significant prolongation of remission duration and survival was seen in the ubenimex  group, especially in the elderly patients. Randomized controlled studies of ubenimex  immunotherapy were performed in solid tumors including malignant melanoma, carcinoma of the lung, stomach, bladder, head and neck and esophagus, and therapeutic benefits regarding disease free-interval or survival were observed in certain types of the above-mentioned cancers; however, ubenimex  immunotherapy for these cancers should be further investigated in large-scale controlled studies to confirm its activity.

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