Translational Stroke Research From Target Selection to Clinical Tria
Translational Stroke Research: From Target Selection to Clinical Trials is part of “Springer Series in Translational Stroke Research.” Forty-three chapters from leading stroke research groups around the world select future targets and methods for stroke m
- PDF / 17,122,959 Bytes
- 925 Pages / 439.37 x 666.14 pts Page_size
- 29 Downloads / 161 Views
Series editor John Zhang
For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/10064
Paul A. Lapchak
●
John H. Zhang
Editors
Translational Stroke Research From Target Selection to Clinical Trials
Editors Paul A. Lapchak, PhD, FAHA Department of Neurology Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles, CA, USA
John H. Zhang Loma Linda University Loma Linda, CA, USA
ISBN 978-1-4419-9529-2 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9530-8 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9530-8 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012934161 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Stroke Progress and Promises: Going Forward (Preface)
To ancient Greeks, the hero met his nemesis or tragic ending as a direct result of his hubris or pride. Gazing over the smoking battlefield of failed clinical trials [1] one cannot help but think of the armies lost to the hubris of those who launched campaigns with terrible certainty: this plan must work because it fits everything we know. Given the spectacular stroke-trial failures of the past 2 decades, one might reasonably give the stage over to the Greek chorus, lamenting the tragic end of neuroprotection, and moving on to other therapeutic areas. Reviewing the new and novel ideas contained in this volume, as well as new twists on old ideas, one can be ensured a renewed energy and optimism. The industry-sponsored dextrophan trial in the United States [2] brought to the forefront the “one mechanism–one drug” principle that guided drug development for decades. The trial arose from an elegant theory that a single neurotransmitter, glutamate, acting on a single channel, the NMDA receptor, injuring a single celltype, the neuron, unlocked the secret to reversing stroke. The notion that a single drug, acting on a single receptor to activate a single, defined mechanism of action seduced trialists, basic scientists, regulators, and funding agencies. The “single mechanism” theory came to permeate translational neurology, so much so that studies of pleiotropic therapies came to a virtual standstill. Twelve years later, the spectacular demise of the free-radical scavenging agent NXY-059 [3, 4] finally and (hopefully) permanently put an end to the naïve idea that a single magic bullet
Data Loading...
