Improving the outcomes: developing cancer therapeutics

Abstract

Oncology therapeutics are less likely to reach the market than other therapeutics, at a higher cost, and only approximately one in ten cancer drugs in clinical development actually reach the market. To improve, there need to be new approaches to oncology research and development, based on understanding cancer biology and improving preclinical models and clinical trials, such as more use of biomarkers and evaluation of other targets including cancer stem cells and use of combination therapies. Biomarkers can be used to make early go/no-go decisions in drug development and can speed up drug development by selecting patients who will benefit and excluding patients likely to experience severe side effects, but they need validation before use. New approaches to preclinical and clinical trials can also speed up and improve the development of cancer therapeutics.