Combining Molecularly Targeted Agents in Cancer Therapy

• Activity Number: 115
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, August 2, 2010 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Biopharmaceutical Section
• Author(s): Eunice Kwak*+
• Companies: Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center
• Keywords: targeted agents ; cancer ; combination

Abstract

Molecularly targeted agents (MTAs) have become the focus of therapeutic cancer research. Enthusiasm for this approach has grown, in part, from the demonstration that a subset of human tumors are addicted to signals from mutant or amplified receptors, such as HER2 in breast cancer and the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in non-small cell lung cancer. In such tumors, pathway inhibition can lead to dramatic tumor shrinkage. MTAs may also alter tumor metabolism or angiogenesis, and thereby lower the threshold for apoptosis. There are few MTAs whose properties are understood well enough as single agents to have proceeded on to development as combination therapy; however, the number of combination therapy trials is growing. This session will explore the clinical successes of single-agent MTAs, and then examine the rationale, strategies, and challenges for MTA combinations.