Targeted Therapies for Lung Cancer

Book excerpt: This book contextualizes translational research and provides an up to date progress report on therapies that are currently being targeted in lung cancer. It is now well established that there is tremendous heterogeneity among cancer cells both at the inter- and intra-tumoral level. Further, a growing body of work highlights the importance of targeted therapies and personalized medicine in treating cancer patients. In contrast to conventional therapies that are typically administered to the average patient regardless of the patient’s genotype, targeted therapies are tailored to patients with specific traits. Nonetheless, such genetic changes can be disease-specific and/or target specific; thus, the book addresses these issues manifested in the somatically acquired genetic changes of the targeted gene. Each chapter is written by a leading medical oncologist who specializes in thoracic oncology and is devoted to a particular target in a specific indication. Contributors provide an in-depth review of the literature covering the mechanisms underlying signaling, potential cross talk between the target and downstream signaling, and potential emergence of drug resistance.