Mechanisms

In the last decades, much research has been looking at the mechanisms how tumors grow and defeat the body. This led to the development of biological therapies that specifically target those mechanisms and molecules vital to the tumor.

Many targeted therapies have now been developed ranging from small molecules that enter the cancer cell to disrupt its inner workings, to larger ones that eliminate cancer cells binding them from the outside (e.g., monoclonal antibodies ).

According to their mechanisms of action, targeted therapies can be divided into three main groups, those that:

Interfere WITH the MULTIPLICATION OF TUMOR CELLS

The drug interaction with molecules on the surface of the tumor cells inhibits their multiplication

Induce TUMOR CELLS DEATH (APOPTOSIS)

Apoptosis is a normal physiological process of cell “suicide” used to clean the body from unwanted cells

Although cancer cells are unusually resistant to death, targeted therapy can trigger their apoptosis.

BLOCKS THE FORMATION OF BLOOD VESSELS (Angiogenesis)

Tumors release chemicals to induce the formation of blood vessels around them, so their fast-dividing cancer cells never run out of “food”(oxygen and nutrients). Some targeted therapy can interfere with this process to starve the tumor of the fuel that ne

Mechanisms

Interfere WITH the MULTIPLICATION OF TUMOR CELLS

Induce TUMOR CELLS DEATH (APOPTOSIS)Apoptosis is a normal physiological process of cell “suicide” used to clean the body from unwanted cells

BLOCKS THE FORMATION OF BLOOD VESSELS (Angiogenesis)

Induce TUMOR CELLS DEATH (APOPTOSIS)

Apoptosis is a normal physiological process of cell “suicide” used to clean the body from unwanted cells