title: Toward Personalized Targeted Therapeutics: An Overview.
abstract: In neuro-oncology, there has been a movement towards personalized medicine, or tailoring treatment to the individual patient. Ideally, tumor and patient evaluations would lead to the selection of the best treatment (based on tumor characterization) and the right dosing schedule (based on patient characterization). The recent advances in the molecular analysis of glioblastoma have created optimism that personalized targeted therapy is within reach. Although our understanding of the molecular complexity of glioblastoma has increased over the years, the path to developing effective targeted therapeutic strategies is wrought with many challenges, as described in this review. These challenges include disease heterogeneity, clinical and genomic patient variability, limited number of effective treatments, clinical trial inefficiency, drug delivery, and clinical trial support and accrual. To confront these challenges, it will be imperative to devise innovative and adaptive clinical trials in order to accelerate our efforts in improving the outcomes for our patients who have been in desperate need.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuro-Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Holcombe Blvd., Unit 431, Houston, TX, 77030, USA. sweathers@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Shiao-Pei S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Weathers
authors.affiliation: Neuro-Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bloch Bldg. 82, Rm. 235, 9030 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005909:Glioblastoma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D057285:Precision Medicine; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents
keywords: Glioblastoma; Glioma; Personalized medicine; Targeted therapy