Table of Contents
For Students
Quizzes
Knowing in detail the specific molecules that are involved in tumour growth and progression makes it possible to design new drugs or to screen for existing compounds that will interfere with the molecules’ function, thus blocking the growth and spread of cancer. Those molecules are described as “targets,” and the drugs that neutralize them are known as targeted therapies. Because targeted drugs attack only the molecules responsible for specific tumour cell behaviour, they are less toxic to normal cells compared with traditional chemotherapeutic agents. As a result, for certain types of cancer, targeted therapies have superseded older drugs and become ...(100 of 21846 words)