Targeted Therapies

A relatively recent type of treatment, targeted therapies are particularly promising since, as the name indicates, they seek to block the growth and spread of cancer in a targeted manner, and as a result causing minimal damage to normal tissues

They are usually given with chemotherapy, acting synergistically, so increasing its effectiveness, or given alone when chemo is not working.

In colorectal cancer, targeted biological therapies can be:

• Antiangiogenesis drugs (angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels), which stop the growth of the blood vessels that feed the tumor, effectively starving it.

• Drugs that block Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), a protein that helps cancer cells to grow. EGFR drugs are generally used for late stage colorectal cancer.

Several targeted therapies for colorectal cancer are already being used in clinic including: 

1. Cetuximab (Erbitux®) and panitumumab (Vectibix®) that block EGFR 
2. Bevacizumab (Avastin®), ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap®) and ramucirumab (Cyramza®) that block angiogenesis.  
3. Regorafenib (Stivarga®) has a different mechanism, but also blocking colorectal cancer development.

As a very promising area of medicine, much research and several clinical trials are now ongoing, with the number of treatments expected to grow fast in the next decade.