Digram of Alemtuzumab, a
monoclonal antibody used
for lymphoma treatment
Targeted cancer therapy is an emerging treatment field within personalized medicine that represents a significant paradigm shift in the treatment of cancer. For much of the 20th century, cancer treatment has been a function of anatomy and cell division: breast, stomach, or skin tumors were treated by inhibiting mitosis.
Targeted treatments exploit the signaling pathway of a cancer cell. In order for cancer cells to proliferate, they must divide through mitosis (cell division), using complex signaling pathways that rely on various proteins and enzymes to allow the cancer cells to grow into larger tumors. Instead of throwing a wrench into the process of cell division, targeted treatments are designed to turn off or block one or more of those signals1.
What it's effective for and why
Targeted therapy has many exciting potential applications in the realm of cancer treatment. For instance, monoclonal antibodies kill cancer cells by blocking a signaling target on the cell surface. Proteasome inhibitors trip up enzymes necessary for cell function. Anti-angiogenetic agents block the growth of blood vessels within a tumor. Therapeutic cancer vaccines enlist the patient's own immune system in combating their disease by extracting an antigen from the patient's own excised tumor2.
Side effects: Overview
One of the great benefits of targeted therapy is that, unlike most chemotherapy drugs as well as many types of radiation, targeted drugs do not damage healthy cells or healthy surrounding tissue. While those therapies act like carpet bombers, indiscriminately obliterating every cell they meet, targeted drugs are designed to kill only the cancer cells. While these treatments do have some side effects, they tend to be less toxic and less severe than those experienced in traditional chemotherapy.
References
- American Society of Clinical Oncology: Understanding Targeted Therapies
- National Cancer Institute: Targeted Cancer Therapies
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