Definition
Most cytotoxic drugs for lung cancer are nonselective. They act by damaging cells undergoing mitosis, which is usually more frequent in malignant cells than in most normal cells. Targeted agents are designed to modulate the activity of signal pathways or proteins or enzymes that are necessary and essential for oncogenesis and survival of cancer cells, particularly those driving deregulated growth, angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis characteristics of malignant cells. The different mechanisms of activity result in lower toxicity for cancer patients, particularly in the bone marrow and in the gastrointestinal tract, and in increased effectiveness. Currently, there are two types of targeting agents in clinical use for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), the tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and the vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) inhibitors. Numerous additional agents targeting other cancer cell...
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Wu, YL. (2015). Lung Cancer Targeted Therapy. In: Schwab, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Cancer. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6829-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27841-9_6829-2
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Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
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