Department of Internal Medicine and Clinical Oncology, University of Bari, Italy.
BioDrugs. 2010 Apr 1;24(2):77-88. doi: 10.2165/11530830-000000000-00000.
Recent advances in understanding the biologic mechanisms underlying cancer development have driven the design of new therapeutic approaches, termed 'targeted therapies', that selectively interfere with molecules or pathways involved in tumor growth and progression. Inactivation of growth factors and their receptors on tumor cells as well as the inhibition of oncogenic tyrosine kinase pathways and the inhibition of molecules that control specific functions in cancer cells constitute the main rational bases of new cancer treatments tailored for individual patients. Small-molecule inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies are major components of these targeted approaches for a number of human malignancies. As the studies of the bio-molecular features of cancer progress, new exciting strategies have arisen, such as targeting cancer stem cells that drive tumor relapses or the selective induction of apoptosis in malignant cells. This article primarily focuses on the biologic bases of the new cancer drugs and summarizes their mechanisms of action, the clinical evidence of their anti-cancer effectiveness as well as the rationale for their use in clinical practice.
近年来，人们对癌症发展背后的生物学机制的认识不断深入，推动了新的治疗方法的设计，这些方法被称为“靶向治疗”，可以选择性地干扰肿瘤生长和进展过程中涉及的分子或途径。肿瘤细胞上生长因子及其受体的失活以及致癌酪氨酸激酶途径的抑制和控制癌细胞特定功能的分子的抑制是为个体患者量身定制新癌症治疗的主要合理依据。小分子抑制剂和单克隆抗体是许多人类恶性肿瘤的这些靶向治疗方法的主要组成部分。随着对癌症生物分子特征的研究不断深入，新的激动人心的策略不断涌现，例如针对驱动肿瘤复发的癌症干细胞，或选择性诱导恶性细胞凋亡。本文主要关注新癌症药物的生物学基础，并总结其作用机制、抗癌有效性的临床证据以及在临床实践中使用的原理。
