What does targeted therapy mean? How is targeted therapy treated?


What is targeted therapy

Targeted therapy, a major component of precision medicine, targets genetic changes within cancer cells that help cancer cells grow, divide and spread.

Types of targeted therapy p>

Most targeted therapy is done with small molecule drugs or monoclonal antibodies.

Small-molecule drugs: small enough in molecular weight to enter cells easily Target.

monoclonal antibodies: difficult to enter cells and, unlike small-molecule drugs, usually act on cells attached to cancer cells specific goals of performance.

Which patients are candidates for targeted drug therapy?

For some types of cancer, most patients will have certain target, so it can be treated with targeted drugs.

To determine suitability for targeted therapy, patients may require genetic, target and drug testing, as well as tissue Biopsy or blood tests.

Tissue biopsy is the removal of a portion of tissue from a tumor for testing. Biopsy has risks that depend on The size and location of the tumor.

How are targeted drugs Anti-cancer?

Most targeted therapies treat cancer by interfering with a specific protein that It can promote tumor growth and spread throughout the body.

Targeted therapy treats cancer in many different ways, including:

Helps the immune system to fight cancer cells;

blocks cancer cell growth;

blocks angiogenesis-related signals;

Delivery of cytotoxic substances into cancer cells;

induces tumor cell death;

inhibits cancer cell growth Hormones required

What are the disadvantages of targeted drugs?

Cancer cells develop resistance to them. The strategy is to combine different targeted therapies, or combine targeted therapies with other cancer treatments, to help improve efficacy.

Drug development for certain targets is difficult. Reasons include the structure of the target, the function of the target in the cell, or both.

Drug side effects. Side effects depend on the type of targeted therapy and how the patient responds to it. There are individual differences. The most common side effects of targeted therapy include diarrhea, fatigue, mouth sores, increased blood pressure, rash, and liver damage. A small number of patients also have perforations of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, rectum, or gallbladder.

Hello everyone, I am Liu Yuansheng, an oncologist. If you have any tumor-related questions, you can consult or ask me any questions. I’ll take the time to answer it for you!