What are Targeted Therapies for Cancer?

Targeted therapies are a group of cancer medications that treat cancer by targeting a specific weakness found in the cancer cells. Targeted therapies may be used instead of, or in conjunction with, other treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

What are Targeted Therapies?

Targeted therapies interfere with carcinogenesis. Carcinogenesis means cancer development, or the pathway that takes a cell from normal to cancerous. Examples of targeted therapies include growth factor receptor blockers, angiogenesis inhibitors, apoptosis-inducing medications, monoclonal antibodies, and cancer vaccines.

How Do Targeted Therapies Work?

For an example of how a targeted therapy might work, you can think about apoptosis, which is the “programmed cell death” that prevents most damaged cells from becoming cancerous in the first place. Cancer cells have figured out how to avoid apoptosis; a targeted therapy would block the chemical changes that allow cancer cells to avoid apoptosis. The cancer cells then die.

Other examples include targeted therapies that block growth factors in cancer cells and therapies that block the cancer cells’ ability to form vessels for its own blood supply, a necessary step for any tumor to keep growing. There are many different ways that targeted therapies “target” just the changes that make a cancer cell cancerous.

What are the Side Effects of Targeted Therapies?

Because targeted therapies block steps or cellular chemical changes specific to the development of cancer, they often are less harmful to normal cells. Some targeted therapies will have side effects, such as immune system changes, slower wound healing, or blood pressure changes. Fortunately, these side effects are manageable and typically less severe than with traditional chemotherapy.

How Do I Manage Targeted Therapy Side Effects?

The two most important things you can do to manage side effects of targeted therapy are to:

1. Take all of your medications as prescribed, because it’s easier to prevent side effects than to treat them once they occur.
2. Keep the lines of communication open with your medical team. This is especially important for people who are taking targeted therapies. Many of these treatments are very new and only have been tested on small numbers of people. This means some side effects of long-term use aren’t known. If you experience anything out of the ordinary or any side effects at all, call your doctor or nurse.

Do I Need to Follow a Special Diet During Targeted Therapy?

You can ask your doctor, nurse, or dietitian about special diet guidelines, but many of these treatments are very new, so information on how and what to eat during targeted therapy are just being developed.

In many cases, you can follow your normal diet while taking targeted therapies, but be sure to talk to your doctor about over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements, herbs, vitamins, or minerals if you want to try these products. These things can interfere with treatment, so clearing it with your doctor before you try over-the-counter products and dietary supplements is very important.