Targeting Cancer Treatment - Specific Factors Of A Patient's Tumor

Cancer cells either divide too quickly or do not die when they should do

• When the genes that control cell division mutate (change), they can multiply too quickly; the cell has become cancerous.
• Cells are genetically programmed to die, when the specific genes that tell the cell to die mutate, and the cell does not die, it has become a cancerous cell.

• Monoclonal antibodies – these are designed to block a specific target on the outside of cancer cells. A bit like trying to prevent electricity from flowing by placing a plastic plug into an electrical socket. As they are generally made up of large compounds which the body cannot absorb very well, they are administered intravenously. Examples include pertuzumab (Omnitarg), alemtuzumab (Campath-1H), panitumumab (Vectibix), bevacizumab, cetuximab (Erbitux), rituximab (Rituxan), and trastuzumab.
• Oral small molecules – the patient swallows a pill, as the molecules are much smaller than those in monoclonal antibodies the body can absorb them well. This type of medication usually interferes with cancer processes within the cancer cell, inside it. Examples include nilotinib (Tasigna), lapatinib (Tykerb), imatinib (Gleevec), sorafenib, dasatinib (Sprycel), erlotinib (Tarceva), gefitinib (Iressa), sunitinib, and temsirolimus (Torisel).
• Proteasome inhibitors – these are specialized proteins that interfere with enzymes (proteasomes) that break down other proteins within the cell when they are no longer needed. Bortezomib (Velcade), an injection that is used for treating multiple myeloma is an example.