What is targeted therapy?
It is the use of drugs that selectively "detect" and destroy cancer cells, thus preserving healthy cells. Most of these treatments are still in the experimental phase and are usually used in combination with other treatments to combat certain types of cancer. It seems to allow a higher quality of life for the patient, as it is thought to cause fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapy.
How does targeted therapy work?
This type of therapy usually involves a specific characteristic of the tumour/patient. The most common targeted therapies are those based on a mutation/alteration present in the tumor, which makes it sensitive to a particular treatment.
Examples of this are tyrosine kinase inhibitors (a class of molecularly targeted medicines) in the treatment of lung tumours and certain inhibitors (e.g. BRAF inhibitors) in the treatment of skin cancer (melanoma).
What are the criteria for choosing therapy?
Usually, the recommendation or not of a certain therapy depends on the presence of an alteration/mutation in the tumor. If the change is not present, other therapeutic alternatives should be evaluated, as these targeted therapies may not be effective and may even be destructive.
What are the side effects of these therapies?
Targeted therapies also have a different safety profile than chemotherapy, hormone therapy and immunotherapy, and so side effects are usually different from those traditionally associated with chemotherapy.
Is there still research into targeted therapies?
yes. Research in the area of targeted therapies has grown a lot in recent years. It is due to the greater knowledge of the characteristics of tumors, as well as of patients with a certain pathology.
Source: Portuguese Society of Oncology