Developments in Pharmacology – serie

The principal objective of this symposium was to bring together investigators from all over the world who work in diverse areas of research but share a common interest in the physiologic and pathophysiologic funetions of the nueleoside adenosine. In 1978, the "International Conference on Physiological and Regulatory Funetions of Adenosine and Adenine Nueleotides," held in Banff, Canada, served as an effective catalyst in enabling scientists with differ­ ent points of view to exchange information and ideas on this subject. Since 1978, the amount of research on different as peets of adenosine metabolism, mechanism of action, transport, and function in various tissues (in both nor­ maI and abnormal states) has increased exponentially, and there was an urgent need for another meeting for updating information on this burgeoning subject. The focus of the meeting was extremely sharp, but the scope of the subject material was very broad. Scientists categorized as chemists, biochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, and immunologists, working with cells and eelI fragments, with tissues such as heart, brain, musele, fat, kidney, and with human beings having immune deficiency diseases participated in the sym­ posium. They had an opportunity to air their differences, reinforce their areas of agreement, and, most important, they educated each other with respeet to research on adenosine; it is hoped that they also enriched their own research programs from the information they gained from their fellow participants.

The principal objective of this symposium was to bring together investigators from all over the world who work in diverse areas of research but share a common interest in the physiologic and pathophysiologic funetions of the nueleoside adenosine. In 1978, the "International Conference on Physiological and Regulatory Funetions of Adenosine and Adenine Nueleotides," held in Banff, Canada, served as an effective catalyst in enabling scientists with differ­ ent points of view to exchange information and ideas on this subject. Since 1978, the amount of research on different as peets of adenosine metabolism, mechanism of action, transport, and function in various tissues (in both nor­ maI and abnormal states) has increased exponentially, and there was an urgent need for another meeting for updating information on this burgeoning subject. The focus of the meeting was extremely sharp, but the scope of the subject material was very broad. Scientists categorized as chemists, biochemists, physiologists, pharmacologists, and immunologists, working with cells and eelI fragments, with tissues such as heart, brain, musele, fat, kidney, and with human beings having immune deficiency diseases participated in the sym­ posium. They had an opportunity to air their differences, reinforce their areas of agreement, and, most important, they educated each other with respeet to research on adenosine; it is hoped that they also enriched their own research programs from the information they gained from their fellow participants.

The Workshop series of the "Koningin Wilhelmina Fonds" is a feature of the interest of this Foundation to promote research and education in the field of cancer, aiming to improve prognosis of the cancer patient. For almost a century, surgery has now been the main treatment modality for the cancer patient. During the past 50 years radiation therapy has developed as a second important modality of treatment. However, neither of the two modalities are able to cure the majority of cancer patients, as the disease is so often metastasized at presentation. Cancer chemotherapy is a modality which does have the potential to cure patients with this advanced stage of disease. In recent years the three modalities have been combined more and more, and here is one of the reasons why the prospectives for the cancer patient have improved so much. In addition, certain types of cancers, such as testicular car­ cinoma, childhood tumors, choriocarcinoma, non Hodgkin lymphomas and others, can now indeed often be cured by chemotherapy alone, even if the disease is advanced. The combination of drugs and the use of new drugs have greatly contributed to this development. There are two main groups of new drugs: analogs and new structures. A great number of analogs of conventional structures have been developed during the past ten years. A typical example of this group is adriamycin, which is an analog of dau­ nomycin.