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Review
. 2020 Dec 7;25(23):5776.
doi: 10.3390/molecules25235776.

Antitumor Drugs and Their Targets

Zlatko Dembic  1   1
Affiliations
Review

Antitumor Drugs and Their Targets

Zlatko Dembic. Molecules. .

Abstract

Through novel methodologies, including both basic and clinical research, progress has been made in the therapy of solid cancer. Recent innovations in anticancer therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitor biologics, therapeutic vaccines, small drugs, and CAR-T cell injections, mark a new epoch in cancer research, already known for faster (epi-)genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. As the long-sought after personalization of cancer therapies comes to fruition, the need to evaluate all current therapeutic possibilities and select the best for each patient is of paramount importance. This is a novel task for medical care that deserves prominence in therapeutic considerations in the future. This is because cancer is a complex genetic disease. In its deadly form, metastatic cancer, it includes altered genes (and their regulators) that encode ten hallmarks of cancer-independent growth, dodging apoptosis, immortalization, multidrug resistance, neovascularization, invasiveness, genome instability, inflammation, deregulation of metabolism, and avoidance of destruction by the immune system. These factors have been known targets for many anticancer drugs and treatments, and their modulation is a therapeutic goal, with the hope of rendering solid cancer a chronic rather than deadly disease. In this article, the current therapeutic arsenal against cancers is reviewed with a focus on immunotherapies.

Keywords: biologics; cancer; cancer hallmarks; chemotherapy; immune checkpoint; immune system; immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

I declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hallmarks of cancer. The arrow denotes a possible order of new mutations occurring in cancer cells, forming a loop (modified, based on Hanahan and Weinberg [2]). Tumor accumulates mutations (or epigenetic hits) and acquires listed hallmarks. Hallmarks 7 and 8 are accelerating features [2]. Hallmarks 9 and 10 could occur anytime within the cycle, and I suggest that they are cancer-supporting characteristics.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Anticancer therapies targeting cancer hallmarks.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Avoiding immune cells’ attack: 10th hallmark of cancer.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Targets of anticancer-stem-cell immunotherapies.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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