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Types of Cancer > Lung Cancer > In the Spotlight
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| New Drugs Aim to Check Cancer Growth |
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New drug therapies such as Iressa® (ZD1839) and TarcevaTM (OSI-774) have been developed to block the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor, which stimulates the growth and division of cancer cells.
The new treatments offer hope to patients afflicted with different types of cancer, including lung and breast cancer.
An EGF receptor exists in limited numbers on the surface of normal cells. There are, however, up to a hundred times the number of EGF receptors in many tumor cells as there are in normal cells, particularly in cancer cells in the lung, prostate, breast, ovary, brain and gastrointestinal tract.
An EGF receptor has two sides, which function differently. As such, they are approached differently by the new drug therapies.
The inward-facing part, or that within the cell, promotes the growth of cancer by triggering cellular events once it is activated by growth signals. The outward-facing part of the EGF receptor, on the other hand, may be bound to growth signals.
Both sides, when coming into contact with growth signals, serve to promote the growth of cancer. It is this process that the new drugs are trying to block.
Iressa and Tarceva both prevent activation of the EGF receptor from within the cell. Other drugs such as ABX-EGF and Erbitux, which are currently being tested, prevent normal growth cells from binding to the outward-facing part of the EGF receptor, thus preventing the stimulation of cancer growth.
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| Resource: The Cancer Information Network |
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| Publish Date: July 25, 2004 |
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