title: The impact of molecular targets in cancer drug development: major hurdles and future strategies.
abstract: The last decades were characterized by enormous technological advances resulting in a better understanding of disease pathologies and improvement of treatment strategies. The development of targeted drugs, whose beginning can be traced back to Paul Ehrlich's theory of the 'magic bullet' approximately 100 years ago, is today widely appraised as a promising strategy to combat benign, as well as malignant, diseases. Over 40 years after US President Nixon declared the 'war on cancer', treatment outcome, especially of solid tumors in the advanced stages of disease, still lies far behind expectations. In this perspective article, the authors discuss the recent development of targeted cancer drugs and identify major hurdles. The authors further highlight future strategies that might improve and accelerate the drug-development process.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hebar
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Valent
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Selzer
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000266:history / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D015195:Drug Design; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015415:Biomarkers