Targeted Therapy Cancer Treatment

Because there are many different types of cancer and not all cancer cells are the same, the doctor will run the test to identify the good or potential target in each patient present with cancer. The approach is called “Precision Medicine” which the patient’s tumor or a sample of cancer will be removed through biopsy and sent to special lab to study based on genetic profile of the cancer. Treatments will be, as a result, tailored to the genetic changes in each individual’s cancer, allowing the doctor to select the effective drug approved by the FDA.

 

Traditional cancer treatment divides into three main approaches: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Radiotherapy and Surgery are the treatment that targets a specific area of the body affected by the cancer. Chemotherapy delivers drugs to the entire body to kill the cancer cells, so normal cells can also be killed while targeted therapy focuses on administering drugs to particular genes or proteins that are important to the growth of cancer cells without destroying the normal cells. Targeted Therapy can then be compared as tailored-made cloth designed specifically for that person.

 

Unlike chemotherapy, targeted therapy targets specific molecules within cells and leave the healthy cells alone, so there are usually fewer and less severe side effects. However, targeted therapy still produces minimal effects, and not every cancer patients respond to targeted therapy. Certain drug may be effective for the first year of the treatment, and later biopsy needs to be performed again to find the new suitable targeted therapy drug if cancer cells become resistant to targeted therapy drugs. 

Targeted Therapy has been development for more than 16-17 years and since then there are various kinds of drug created but still cannot cover for all types of cancer. Cancer drug development remains an expensive and difficult to develop for some targets. Consequently, it is often used in conjunction with chemotherapy and other cancer treatment.