Abstract
Every year more than 370,000 new cases of lung cancer occur in Europe. About 70% of the patients are not curable because of local or distant spread of tumor cells. Despite the use of chemotherapy, median survival of these patients is less than one year In the last two decades, important advances in cancer research have been achieved. This led to the development of a new class of potential anti-cancer agents, selectively targeting molecules which are important for the growth and the spread of tumor cells. Focussing on lung cancer, this review presents compounds that are furthest in clinical development, covering epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors, receptor tyrosin kinase inhibitors, anti-angiogenic agents, matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors, gene therapy and antisense therapy.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Antineoplastic Agents / administration & dosage*
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Antineoplastic Agents / classification
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Apoptosis / drug effects
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Cell Division / drug effects
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Collagenases / metabolism
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Epidermal Growth Factor / antagonists & inhibitors
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Epidermal Growth Factor / metabolism
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Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / drug effects
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Genetic Therapy / methods*
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Humans
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Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
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Lung Neoplasms / genetics
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Lung Neoplasms / metabolism*
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Lung Neoplasms / pathology
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Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors
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Neovascularization, Pathologic / drug therapy
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Neovascularization, Pathologic / genetics
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Neovascularization, Pathologic / metabolism
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Neovascularization, Pathologic / pathology
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Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / antagonists & inhibitors
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Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / metabolism
Substances
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Antineoplastic Agents
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Matrix Metalloproteinase Inhibitors
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Epidermal Growth Factor
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Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases
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Collagenases