Back to Search
Start Over
Future Options of Molecular-Targeted Therapy in Small Cell Lung Cancer
- Source :
- Cancers, Vol 11, Iss 5, p 690 (2019), Cancers
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- MDPI AG, 2019.
-
Abstract
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. With a focus on histology, there are two major subtypes: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (the more frequent subtype), and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (the more aggressive one). Even though SCLC, in general, is a chemosensitive malignancy, relapses following induction therapy are frequent. The standard of care treatment of SCLC consists of platinum-based chemotherapy in combination with etoposide that is subsequently enhanced by PD-L1-inhibiting atezolizumab in the extensive-stage disease, as the addition of immune-checkpoint inhibition yielded improved overall survival. Although there are promising molecular pathways with potential therapeutic impacts, targeted therapies are still not an integral part of routine treatment. Against this background, we evaluated current literature for potential new molecular candidates such as surface markers (e.g., DLL3, TROP-2 or CD56), apoptotic factors (e.g., BCL-2, BET), genetic alterations (e.g., CREBBP, NOTCH or PTEN) or vascular markers (e.g., VEGF, FGFR1 or CD13). Apart from these factors, the application of so-called ‘poly-(ADP)-ribose polymerases’ (PARP) inhibitors can influence tumor repair mechanisms and thus offer new perspectives for future treatment. Another promising therapeutic concept is the inhibition of ‘enhancer of zeste homolog 2’ (EZH2) in the loss of function of tumor suppressors or amplification of (proto-) oncogenes. Considering the poor prognosis of SCLC patients, new molecular pathways require further investigation to augment our therapeutic armamentarium in the future.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Cancer Research
medicine.medical_treatment
Disease
Review
lcsh:RC254-282
Targeted therapy
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Atezolizumab
medicine
PTEN
Lung cancer
Etoposide
Chemotherapy
biology
epigenetics
business.industry
EZH2
apoptosis
SCLC
medicine.disease
targeted therapy
lcsh:Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens
030104 developmental biology
Oncology
030220 oncology & carcinogenesis
biology.protein
Cancer research
anti-angiogenesis
business
medicine.drug
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20726694
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Cancers
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....15006df99b6f4deccf6bbda5c0df3edd