The failure of many clinical trials of the pioneering matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) inhibitors in oncology owing to lack of efficacy and side effects, such as musculoskeletal toxicity, reduced enthusiasm for further development of the drug class. Vandenbroucke and Libert discuss how greater knowledge of MMP biology, as well as the development of more specific MMP inhibitors, could provide new opportunities to use such agents in the treatment of sepsis and other inflammatory disorders.
- Roosmarijn E. Vandenbroucke
- Claude Libert