Tailor-made chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer patients.
The selection of the most effective chemotherapy treatment based on evaluation of biomarkers, that is, 'tailor-made chemotherapy', can improve the clinical outcome of non-small cell lung cancer patients, including early-stage tumors with a high metastatic potential and advanced-stage tumors with a low proliferation rate. Therefore, treatment would be chosen according to which drugs would be most effective in combating specific tumors. For example: 5-fluorouracil-derived agents would be used for tumors with a low expression of thymidylate synthase; gefitinib and erlotinib for tumors with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations or increased EGFR gene copy numbers; cisplatin and carboplatin for tumors with a low expression of excision repair cross complementing-1; and gemcitabine for tumors with a low expression of ribonucleotide reductase. The remaining populations of non-small cell lung cancers require chemotherapy using other drugs based on an evaluation of other targeted molecules.
Second Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kagawa University, 1750-1, Miki-cho, Kita-gun, Kagawa 761-0793, Japan. chuang@kms.ac.jp
Cheng-Long
CL
Huang
Hiroyasu
H
Yokomise
Masakazu
M
Fukushima
Moritoshi
M
Kinoshita
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D015195:Drug Design; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D047428:Protein Kinase Inhibitors; D066246:ErbB Receptors