New Drugs for Treatment
Posted 4/17/2012
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It seems about time for another wonky posting. It may not be obvious to you, but I actually do try to maintain some balance among my entries. Some of scientific, some are conversational, some are just interesting. This one is from "Cancer Research and Treatment" and is about the development of new drugs for breast cancer treatment. As we all know, research increasingly is focused on targeted therapies, and this piece reflects that trend.
New drugs for breast cancer subtypes: Targeting driver pathways to overcome resistance
Giuseppe Curigliano
Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy
Abstract: Breast cancer is not a single disease. Genetic array tools can define several subtypes. Specific biological processes and distinct gene pathways are associated with prognosis and sensitivity to chemotherapy
and targeted agents in different subtypes of breast cancers. As a consequence, breast cancer can be classified by molecular events. A primary challenge for future drug development in breast cancer will be to distinguish genes and pathways that ''drive'' cancer proliferation (drivers) from genes and pathways that have no role in the development of cancer (passengers). The identification of functional pathways that are enriched for mutated genes will select sub-population of patients the will most likely be sensitive to biology driven targeted agents. The selection of driver pathways in resistant tumors will permit to discover a biology-driven platform for new drug development to overcome resistance. Any of the breast cancer subtypes implies that clinicians should consider cases within the various distinct sub-population in order to properly choose the most personalized therapeutic approach. We will review all new emerging agents targeting the driver pathways within breast cancer molecular subtypes.
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