New insights into the cancer genome have led to many new targeted therapies for advanced breast cancer. This promising field of cancer treatment identifies and attacks cancer cells more effectively. Here are seven things you need to know about this new group of precision drugs.

Targeted therapies use information about your genes and proteins to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer. The therapies aim to attack specific cancer cells without harming healthy cells.

Standard chemotherapy works by killing both normal and rapidly dividing cancerous cells. Targeted therapies are designed to block the spread of molecular targets associated with cancer.

Cancer cells are different from healthy cells. Targeted therapies can detect cancerous cells and then destroy or impede their growth without harming non-cancerous cells. This type of treatment is considered a kind of chemotherapy, although it works differently. Targeted therapies also tend to have fewer side effects than standard chemotherapy drugs.

开发靶向疗法的第一步是鉴定在癌细胞生长和存活中发挥关键作用的分子标记。一旦鉴定了标记，就开发了治疗，从而干扰癌细胞的生产或存活。这可以通过减少标记物的活性或预防其与受体结合，其通常激活。

  • Hormone
    therapies    slow or stop the growth of hormone-sensitive tumors that require
    certain hormones to grow.
  • Signal
    转导抑制剂    block the activities of molecules that participate
    in signal transduction, the process by which a cell responds to signals from
    its environment.
  • Gene
    expression modulators    (GEM)
    修饰在控制基因中发挥作用的蛋白质的功能
    表达。
  • Apoptosis
    inducers    cause cancer cells to undergo apoptosis, the process of controlled
    细胞死亡。
  • Angiogenesis
    inhibitors    阻止新血管的生长，从而限制了
    blood supply necessary for tumors to grow.
  • 免疫治疗
    trigger the immune system to destroy cancer cells.
  • Monoclonal
    antibodies    (mAb or moAb)deliver
    toxic molecules to target and kill specific cancer cells by behaving like a
    magnet to find and them and block their reproduction.

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves a particular targeted therapy, they define the specific circumstances when it can be used. They also define who is a good fit for treatment. In general, targeted therapies are used to treat people who have a particular mutation that the treatment can detect. They work to destroy or inhibit the cancerous cells of that mutation. Targeted therapy may also be an option for people whose cancer did not respond to other therapies, has spread, or is not suitable for surgery.

Cancer cells can become resistant by mutating so that the targeted therapy is no longer effective. If so, the tumor can find a new pathway to achieve growth that does not depend on the target. In some instances, targeted treatment may work best by combining two therapies or more traditional chemotherapy drugs.

The most common side effects of targeted therapies include:

  • 弱点
  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • diarrhea
  • head
  • 困难
  • 呼吸
  • rashes

其他副作用包括毛发畸形，血液凝固和伤口愈合的问题，以及高血压。