From its introduction, oncological chemotherapy has been encumbered by its poor selectivity because most antiproliferative drugs are toxic not only to tumor cells but also to important populations of the bodys non-neoplastic cells. The resultant problems with unwanted side effects are compounded by difficulties in predicting the desired effectivity of chemotherapy in individual patients.
This unsatisfactory situation has driven intensive research and development towards more specific and less toxic anticancer drugs over the last few decades. Several results of these efforts have reached the clinic and an even greater number are now in preclinical testing.
Common to all these targeted therapies is their interaction with defined molecules present on cancer cells, which adds various degrees of increased selectivity to their toxic effects. As a consequence, detecting the target molecule on tumors before therapy holds great diagnostic potential for predicting the efficacy of the drug and personalizing therapy.
This book aims to present translational scientists and clinicians with an integrated critical view on the theories, mechanisms, problems and pitfalls of the targeted therapy approach.
Prediction of Tumor Behavior.- Beyond Typing and Grading: Target Analysis in Individualized Therapy as a New Challenge for Tumour Pathology.- Oncogenic Signaling Pathways and Deregulated Target Genes.- Predictive Pathology of Cytostatic Drug Resistance and New Anti-cancer Targets.- Prediction of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Carcinomas of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract.- Resistance-Associated Signatures in Breast Cancer.- Resistance to Chemotherapy in Ovarian Carcinoma.- Clinical, Biological, and Molecular Aspects of Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer.- Prediction of Efficacy and Side Effects of Chemotherapy in Colorectal Cancer.- Proteomic Expression Profiling of Breast Cancer.- Targeted Therapy and Clinical Applications.- Targeted Therapy and Blood-Brain Barrier.- Cetuximab: Appraisal of a Novel Drug Against Colorectal Cancer.- C-kit, GIST, and Imatinib.- Antibody Therapy in Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma: The Role of Rituximab, 90Y-Ibritumomab Tiuxetan, and Alemtuzumab.- Molecular and Clinical Aspects of Proteasome Inhibition in the Treatment of Cancer.- Individualized Target Therapy of Malignant Lymphomas: An Outlook.- Antiangiogenesis, Anti-VEGF(R) and Outlook.- Morphological Detection of Hormone and Growth Factor Receptors in Breast Cancer.- Prospects for Development.- Antigen-Specific Cancer Vaccines.- Therapeutic Vaccination for the Treatment of Malignant Melanoma.- Monoclonal and Recombinant Antibodies with T Cell Receptor-Like Reactivity.- New Molecular Therapy Targets in Acute Myeloid Leukemia.
