Introduction to special issue on multiple drug resistance

✍ Scribed by Lester A. Mitscher

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 25 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0198-6325
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-1128(199911)19:6<475::aid-med1>3.0.co;2-4

✦ Synopsis

Reviews is pleased to provide an outlet for the publication of selected articles representing the invited lectures presented at the 3rd Winter Conference on Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry, January 23-29, 1999. This particular group of articles addresses various aspects of the multiple drug resistance problem.

From a very promising beginning about 50 years ago, powerful new medicines began to appear at regular intervals in the fields of cancer chemotherapy, antibacterials, antifungals, and antivirals. These medications were greeted with great enthusiasm by the professions and by the lay public. At long last, a succession of mankind's ancient debilitating and killing diseases began to respond to carefully chosen, powerful, and effective medications. The era of the wonder drugs was underway.

Almost from the outset, however, there were warning signs of resistance of which the exceptionally perceptive took note. As time passed, however, these reports grew in number and urgency, but still comparatively little was done to address the problems that they represent.

Today, multiple drug resistance is an all too common phenomenon. A major effort is now underway to deal with these issues, and the following articles outline how we got to the present circumstance, the avenues being pursued, and predictions as to what the future might hold. Each article is written by scientists actively engaged in research on this question and presents informed discussions of research in each of these therapeutic areas.

The following is a list of the presenters and the presentations made at the symposium: