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Knowing how cancer cells develop helps understand how targeted therapy works.
First, cells make up every tissue in your body. There are many different cell types, such as blood cells, brain cells, and skin cells. Each type has a specific function. Cancer begins when specific genes in healthy cells change. Scientists call the change a mutation.
Genes tell cells how to make proteins that keep the cell working. If the genes change, these proteins change, too. This makes cells divide abnormally or live too long. When this happens, the cells grow uncontrollably. The out-of-control cells form a tumor.
Researchers are learning that certain gene changes happen in specific cancers. So they are developing drugs that target the changes. The drugs can:
· Block or turn off the signals that tell cancer cells to grow and divide,
· Keep cells from living longer than normal, or
· Kill the cancer cells.
Targeted therapy is a cancer treatment that uses drugs. However, it is different from traditional chemotherapy. The drugs known as targeted therapy help stop cancer from growing and spreading. They work by targeting specific genes or proteins. These genes and proteins are found in cancer cells or in cells related to cancer growth, like blood vessel cells.
There are two main types of targeted therapy:
· Monoclonal antibodies: Drugs called “monoclonal antibodies” block a specific target on the outside of cancer cells. Or the target might be in the area around the cancer. These drugs work like a plastic plug you put in an electric socket. The plug keeps electricity from flowing out of the socket.
Monoclonal antibodies can also send toxic substances directly to cancer cells. For example, they can help chemotherapy and radiation get to cancer cells better. You usually get these drugs intravenously.
· Small-molecule drugs: Drugs called “small-molecule drugs” can block the process that helps cancer cells multiply and spread. These drugs are usually pills you take. Angiogenesis inhibitors are one example of this type of targeted therapy. These drugs keep tissue around the tumor from making blood vessels. Angiogenesis is the name for making new blood vessels. A tumor needs blood vessels to bring it nutrients. The nutrients help it grow and spread. Anti-angiogenesis therapies starve the tumor by keeping new blood vessels from developing.
Targeted therapies faces so many challenges such as:
üUsing a drug that works on your specific cancer may seem simple. But targeted therapy is complicated and not always effective. It is important to remember that:
üA targeted treatment will not work if the tumor does not have the target.
üHaving the target does not mean the tumor will respond to the drug.
For example, the target may not to be as important as doctors first thought. So the drug may not help much. Or the drug might work at first but then stop working. Finally, targeted therapy drugs may cause serious side effects. These are usually different from traditional chemotherapy effects. For example, patients getting targeted therapy often develop skin, hair, nail or eye problems.
Targeted therapy is an important cancer treatment. But so far, doctors can only get rid of a few cancers with these drugs alone. Most patients also need surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or hormone therapy. Researchers will develop more targeted drugs as they learn more about specific changes in cancer cells.
Targeted medicine is a hot area in biomedical research nowadays. From a cancer research precepctive, targeted medicine would be an extremely useful tool in the treatment of many cancers. Researchers are trying to use nanotechnology to target treatments to tumors by conjugating antibodies to nanoparticles containing the intended treatment. The antibody recognizes a surface molecule that is unique to the cancer cell. This would eliminate any potential side effects that may occur from the drug hitting normal cells in addition to cancerous ones.
