Targeted Therapy to Treat Cancer – The Epoch Times

For some types of cancer, such as chronic myelogenous leukemia (also known as CML), most people with that cancer will have a target for a certain drug, so they can be treated with that drug. But most of the time, your tumor will need to be tested to see if it contains targets for which there is a drug.

Testing your cancer for targets that could help choose your treatment is called biomarker testing. SeeBiomarker Testing for Cancer Treatmentfor more information.

You may need to have a biopsy for biomarker testing. A biopsy is a procedure in which your doctor removes a piece of the tumor for testing. There are some risks to having a biopsy. These risks vary depending on the size of the tumor and where it is located. Your doctor will explain the risks of having a biopsy for your type of tumor.

Most types of targeted therapyhelp treat cancer by interfering with specific proteins that help tumors grow and spread throughout the body. This is different from chemotherapy, which often kills all cells that grow and divide quickly. The following explains the different ways that targeted therapy treats cancer.

One reason that cancer cells thrive is because they can hide from your immune system. Certain targeted therapies can mark cancer cells so it is easier for the immune system to find and destroy them. Other targeted therapies help boost your immune system to work better against cancer. Learn more aboutimmunotherapy to treat cancer.

Healthy cells in your body usually divide to make new cells only when they receive strong signals to do so. These signals bind to proteins on the cell surface, telling the cells to divide. This process helps new cells form only as your body needs them. But, some cancer cells have changes in the proteins on their surface that tell them to divide whether or not signals are present. Some targeted therapies interfere with these proteins, preventing them from telling the cells to divide. This process helps slow cancers uncontrolled growth.

To grow beyond a certain size, tumors need to form new blood vessels in a process calledangiogenesis. The tumor sends signals that start angiogenesis. Some targeted therapies calledangiogenesis inhibitorsinterfere with these signals to prevent a blood supply from forming. Without a blood supply, tumors stay small. Or, if a tumor already has a blood supply, these treatments can cause blood vessels to die, which causes the tumor to shrink. Learn more aboutangiogenesis inhibitors.

Some monoclonal antibodies are combined with cell-killing substances such astoxins,chemotherapydrugs, orradiation. Once these monoclonal antibodies attach to targets on the surface of cancer cells, the cells take up the cell-killing substances, causing them to die. Cells that dont have the target will not be harmed.

Healthy cells die in an orderly manner when they become damaged or are no longer needed. But, cancer cells have ways of avoiding this dying process. Some targeted therapies can cause cancer cells to go through this process of cell death, which is called apoptosis.

Some breast and prostate cancers require certain hormones to grow. Hormone therapies are a type of targeted therapy that can work in two ways. Some hormone therapies prevent your body from making specific hormones. Others prevent the hormones from acting on your cells, including cancer cells. Learn more abouthormone therapy for prostate cancerandhormone therapy for breast cancer.

Targeted therapydoes have some drawbacks.

When targeted therapy was first developed, scientists thought that it would be less toxic than chemotherapy. But they have learned that targeted therapy can also cause serious side effects. The side effects that you may have depends on the type of targeted therapy you receive and how your body reacts to it.

The most common side effects of targeted therapy includediarrheaand liver problems. Other side effects might include

Very rarely, a hole might form through the wall of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large bowel, rectum, or gallbladder.

There are medicines for many of these side effects. These medicines may prevent the side effects from happening or treat them once they occur.

Most side effects of targeted therapy go away after treatment ends.

Learn more aboutside effects caused by cancer treatmentand ways to manage them.

What can I expect when having targeted therapy?

Small-molecule drugs are pills or capsules that you can swallow.

Monoclonal antibodies are usually given through a needle in a blood vein.

Where you go for treatment depends on which drugs you are getting and how they are given. You may take targeted therapy at home. Or you may receive targeted therapy in a doctors office, clinic, or outpatient unit in a hospital. Outpatient means you do not spend the night in the hospital.

How often and how long you receive targeted therapy depends on

You may have treatment every day, every week, or every month. Some targeted therapies are given in cycles. A cycle is a period of treatment followed by a period of rest. The rest period gives your body a chance to recover and build new healthy cells.

While you are receiving targeted therapy, you will see your doctor often. He or she will give youphysical examsand ask you how you feel. You will have medical tests, such as blood tests,x-rays, and different types ofscans. These regular visits and tests will help the doctor know whether the treatment is working.

Clinical trials of targeted therapy and other cancer treatments take place in cities and towns across the United States and throughout the world. They take place in doctors offices, cancer centers, medical centers, community hospitals and clinics, and veteran and military hospitals.

Targeted Therapy to Treat Cancerwas originally published by the National Cancer Institute.

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Targeted Therapy to Treat Cancer - The Epoch Times