| [ Summary ] |
1,25(OH)2D3 (D hormone) and its analogs (D hormone analogs) were found to exert, in addition to classic calcemic effects, differentiation inducing effects on leukemia cell clones. Many attempts to apply this differentiation inducing effect to anti-cancer therapy turned out to be disappointing, because inherent hypercalcemic effects prevented satisfactory dose administration. This difficulty is being solved by the development of D hormone analogs, which are more active in their differentiation-inducing effects, with minimal potency related to their calcemic effects. D hormone analogs develop most of their anti-cancer effects through the function of vitamin D receptor (VDR). Because VDR belongs to the nuclear receptor superfamily, having many unique functional properties, the understanding of the latter is mandatory for further development of new modalities for treatment of cancer with D hormone analogs. |