Key Publications

• Azrak RG, Frank CL, Ghadersohi A, Rustum YM. Silencing survivin results in synergy between methylseleninic acid and paclitaxel against skov3 ovarian cancer cells. Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 Dec 7;7(12). [Epub ahead of print]
• Bhattacharya A, Tóth K, Durrani FA, Cao S, Slocum HK, Chintala S, Rustum YM. Hypoxia-specific drug tirapazamine does not abrogate hypoxic tumor cells in combination therapy with irinotecan and methylselenocysteine in well-differentiated human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma a253 xenografts. Neoplasia. 2008 Aug;10(8):857-65.
• Ramnath N, Yu J, Khushalani NI, Gottlieb RH, Schwarz JK, Iyer RV, Rustum YM, Creaven PJ. Scheduled administration of low dose irinotecan before gemcitabine in the second line therapy of non-small cell lung cancer: a phase II study. Anticancer Drugs. 2008 Aug;19(7):749-52.
• Fakih MG, Bullarddunn K, Yang GY, Pendyala L, Toth K, Andrews C, Rustum YM, Ross ME, Levea C, Puthillath A, Park YM, Rajput A.  Phase II study of weekly intravenous oxaliplatin combined with oral daily capecitabine and radiotherapy with biologic correlates in neoadjuvant treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2008 Nov 1;72(3):650-7. Epub 2008 Jun 17.
• Bhattacharya A, Seshadri M, Oven SD, Tóth K, Vaughan MM, Rustum YM. Tumor vascular maturation and improved drug delivery induced by methylselenocysteine leads to therapeutic synergy with anticancer drugs. Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 15;14(12):3926-32.
• Haller DG, Cassidy J, Clarke SJ, Cunningham D, Van Cutsem E, Hoff PM, Rothenberg ML, Saltz LB, Schmoll HJ, Allegra C, Bertino JR, Douillard JY, Gustavsson BG, Milano G, O'Connell M, Rustum Y, Tabernero J, Gilberg F, Sirzén F, Twelves C. Potential regional differences for the tolerability profiles of fluoropyrimidines. J Clin Oncol. 2008 May 1;26(13):2118-23.
• Fakih MG, Pendyala L, Brady W, Smith PF, Ross ME, Creaven PJ, Badmaev V, Prey JD, Rustum YM. A Phase I and pharmacokinetic study of selenomethionine in combination with a fixed dose of irinotecan in solid tumors. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2008 Aug;62(3):499-508. Epub 2007 Nov 8.
• Javle MM, Cao S, Durrani FA, Pendyala L, Lawrence DD, Smith PF, Creaven PJ, Noel DC, Iyer RV, Rustum YM.  Celecoxib and mucosal protection: translation from an animal model to a phase I clinical trial of celecoxib, irinotecan, and 5-fluorouracil. Clin Cancer Res. 2007 Feb 1;13(3):965-71.
• Azrak RG, Cao S, Pendyala L, Durrani FA, Fakih M, Combs GF Jr, Prey J, Smith PF, Rustum YM.  Efficacy of increasing the therapeutic index of irinotecan, plasma and tissue selenium concentrations is methylselenocysteine dose dependent. Biochem Pharmacol. 2007 May 1;73(9):1280-7. Epub 2006 Dec 22.
• Azrak RG, Frank CL, Ling X, Slocum HK, Li F, Foster BA, Rustum YM. The mechanism of methylselenocysteine and docetaxel synergistic activity in prostate cancer cells. Mol Cancer Ther. 2006 Oct;5(10):2540-8.
• Seshadri M, Mazurchuk R, Spernyak JA, Bhattacharya A, Rustum YM, Bellnier DA.  Activity of the vascular-disrupting agent 5,6-dimethylxanthenone-4-acetic acid against human head and neck carcinoma xenografts. Neoplasia. 2006 Jul;8(7):534-42.
• Fakih MG, Rajput A, Yang GY, Pendyala L, Toth K, Smith JL, Lawrence DD, Rustum YM.  A Phase I study of weekly intravenous oxaliplatin in combination with oral daily capecitabine and radiation therapy in the neoadjuvant treatment of rectal adenocarcinoma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Aug 1;65(5):1462-70. Epub 2006 Jun 5.
• Fakih MG, Pendyala L, Smith PF, Creaven PJ, Reid ME, Badmaev V, Azrak RG, Prey JD, Lawrence D, Rustum YM. A phase I and pharmacokinetic study of fixed-dose selenomethionine and irinotecan in solid tumors. Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Feb 15;12(4):1237-44.
• Bouvet M, Spernyak J, Katz MH, Mazurchuk RV, Takimoto S, Bernacki R, Rustum YM, Moossa AR, Hoffman RM. High correlation of whole-body red fluorescent protein imaging and magnetic resonance imaging on an orthotopic model of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Res. 2005 Nov 1;65(21):9829-33.
• Fakih M, Cao S, Durrani FA, Rustum YM.  Selenium protects against toxicity induced by anticancer drugs and augments
  antitumor activity: a highly selective, new, and novel approach for the treatment of solid tumors. Clin Colorectal Cancer. 2005 Jul;5(2):132-5. Review.
• Azrak RG, Yu J, Pendyala L, Smith PF, Cao S, Li X, Shannon WD, Durrani FA, McLeod HL, Rustum YM.  Irinotecan pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenomic alterations induced by methylselenocysteine in human head and neck xenograft tumors.
  Mol Cancer Ther. 2005 May;4(5):843-54.
• Hu H, Jiang C, Ip C, Rustum YM, Lü J. Methylseleninic acid potentiates apoptosis induced by chemotherapeutic drugs in
  androgen-independent prostate cancer cells. Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Mar 15;11(6):2379-88.
• Cao S, Durrani FA, Rustum YM.  Synergistic antitumor activity of capecitabine in combination with irinotecan. Clin Colorectal Cancer. 2005 Jan;4(5):336-43.
• Bhattacharya A, Tóth K, Mazurchuk R, Spernyak JA, Slocum HK, Pendyala L, Azrak R, Cao S, Durrani FA, Rustum YM.  Lack of microvessels in well-differentiated regions of human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma A253 associated with functional magnetic resonance imaging detectable hypoxia, limited drug delivery, and resistance to irinotecan therapy. Clin Cancer Res. 2004 Dec 1;10(23):8005-17.
• Azrak RG, Cao S, Slocum HK, Toth K, Durrani FA, Yin M-B, Pendyala L, Zhang W, McLeod HL, and Rustum YM. Therapeutic synergy between irinotecan and 5-fluorouracil against human tumor xenografts. Clin Cancer Res., 10:1121-1129, 2004.
• Cao S, Durrani FA, and Rustum YM. Selective modulation of the therapeutic efficacy of anticancer drugs by selenium containing compounds against human tumor xenografts. Clin Cancer Res., 10:2561-2569, 2004.
• Yin M-B, Li Z-R, Cao S, Durrani FA, Azrak RG, Frank C, and Rustum YM. Enhanced 7-Ethyl-10-hydroxycamptothecin (SN-38) Lethality by Methylselenocysteine is Associated with Chk2 Phosphorylation at Threonine-68 and Down-Regulation of Cdc6 Expression. Molecular Pharmacology, 1:153-160, 2004.
• Faessel HM, Slocum HK, Rustum YM, Greco WR. Thymidine and hypoxanthine protection patterns of the folic acid-enhanced synergies for synthesis against human ileocecal HCT-8 cells. Int J Oncol. 23(2):401-409, 2003.
• Tewes M, Schleucher N, Achterrath W, Wilke HJ, Frings S, Seeber S, Harstrick A, Rustum YM, Vanhoefer U. Capecitabine and irinotecan as first-line chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer: results of an extended phase I study dagger. Ann Oncol. 14(9):1442-1448, 2003.
• Hapke G, Yin MB, Wu J, Frank C, Rustum YM. Phosphorylation of chk1 at serine-345 affected by topoisomerase I poison SN-38. Int J Oncol. 21(5):1059-1066, 2002.
• Naka T, Sugamura K, Hylander BL, Widmer MB, Rustum YM, Repasky EA. Effects of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand alone and in combination with chemotherapeutics agents on patients' colon tumors rown in SCID mice. Cancer Res. 62(20):5800-5806, 2002. 
• Wu J, Yin MB, Hapke G, Toth K, Rustum YM. Induction of biphasic DNA double strand breaks and activation of multiple repair protein complexes by DNA topoisomerase I drug 7-ethyl-10-hydroxy-camptothecin. Mol Pharmacol. 61(4):742-748, 2002.
• Yin MB, Hapke G, Wu J, Azrak RG, Frank C, Wrzosek C, Rustum YM. Chk 1 signaling pathways that mediated G(2)M checkpoint in relation to the cellular resistance to the novel topooisomerase I poison BNP1350. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 295(2):435-444, 2002.