Targeted Cancer Drugs Advance
While only a subset of patients responds to targeted cancer drugs, scientists are starting to figure out how to make those drugs work more effectively in a larger number of patients.
Institute Professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, Philip Sharp says: “‘To personalize cancer care, we must interpret changes in cellular networks or mutations to predict the correct drug combination to use.’ In two studies focusing on a promising class of drugs for lung cancer called EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors, researchers have pinpointed new drug targets that could enhance the drugs’ activity. They hope the findings will enable a new approach to personalized cancer care, suggesting specific combinations of drugs that will be most effective for an individual’s cancer.”
