Vnitr Lek 2013, 59(1):5-12

Targeted therapeuticts and their role in the treatment of internal diseases

P. Klener

I. interní klinika 1. lékařské fakulty UK a VFN a ÚHKT Praha, přednosta prof. MUDr. Marek Trněný, CSc.

Targeted therapy is a conceptual notion that should be used for such a treatment approach that has been developed based upon the known pathophysiology and/or biomarkers of a particular disease, mainly malignancies. Monoclonal antibodies and tyrosine-kinase inhibitors were among the first molecularly targeted agents. Monoclonal antibodies approach is based on targeting a biomarker expressed either on the surface of cancer cells or targeting different cytokines. Tyrosin-kinase inhibitors are directed at the druggable molecule involved in the cancer pathophysiology inhibiting aberrant tyrosin-kinase activity. Classification of targeted drugs and their use in the clinical practice is shortly reviewed.

Keywords: targeted therapy; monoclonal antibodies; tyrosin-kinase inhibitors; classification; clinical use

Received: January 3, 2013; Published: January 1, 2013  Show citation