What are Targeted Therapies for Cancer?
Targeted therapies are a group of cancer medications that treat cancer by targeting a specific weakness found in the cancer cells. Targeted therapies may be used instead of, or in conjunction with, other treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. What are Targeted Therapies? Targeted therapies interfere with carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis means cancer development, or the pathway that takes a cell from normal to cancerous. Examples of targeted therapies include growth factor receptor blockers, angiogenesis inhibitors, apoptosis-inducing medications, monoclonal antibodies, and cancer vaccines. How Do Targeted Therapies Work? For an example of how a targeted therapy might work, you can think about apoptosis, which is the “programmed cell death” that prevents most damaged cells from becoming
