Lung cancer therapeutics that target signaling pathways: an update

Abstract

Claiming more than 150,000 lives each year, lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the USA. First-line treatments in lung cancer include surgical resection and chemotherapy, the latter of which offers only modest survival benefits at the expense of often severe and debilitating side effects. Recent advances in elucidating the molecular biology of lung carcinogenesis have elucidated novel drug targets, and treatments are rapidly evolving into specialized agents that hone in on specific aspects of the disease. Of particular interest is blocking tumor growth by targeting the physiological processes surrounding angiogenesis, pro-tumorigenic growth factor activation, anti-apoptotic cascades and other cancer-promoting signal transduction events. This article looks at several areas of interest to lung cancer therapeutics and considers the current state of affairs surrounding the development of these therapies.

Keywords::

• angiogenesis
• apoptosis
• cancer stem cells
• lung cancer
• monoclonal antibody
• signal transduction
• targeted therapy
• TKI
• tyrosine kinase inhibitor

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors are grateful for support from NIH/NCI grant R01CA125030; The Eileen D Ludwig Endowed for Thoracic Oncology Research; The Bonnie J Addario Lung Cancer Foundation; The Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Greenwood, Harley & Oberman Foundation; and The Barbara Isackson Lung Cancer Research Fund. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.