-
Role of receptor tyrosine kinases in gastric cancer: new targets for a selective therapy.
Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) such as the epidermal growth factor receptor family participate in several steps of tumor formation including proliferation and metastatic spread. Several known RTKs are upregulated in gastric cancer being prime targets of a tailored therapy. Only preliminary data exist, however, on the use of the currently clinically available drugs such as trastuzumab, cetuximab, bevacizumab, gefitinib, erlotinib, and imatinib in the setting of gastric cancer. Preclinical data suggest a potential benefit of their use, especially in combination with "conventional" cytostatic therapy. This review summarizes the current knowledge about their use in cancer therapy as well as new approaches and drugs to optimize treatment success.
PMID: 16733844 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
-
Patient Drug Information
-
Imatinib (Gleevec® )
Imatinib is used to treat certain types of leukemia (cancer that begins in the white blood cells) and other cancers of the blood cells. Imatinib is also used to treat gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST; a type of tumo...
-
Gefitinib (Iressa® )
Gefitinib is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer in people who have already been treated with certain other chemotherapy medications and have not improved or whose condition has worsened. Gefitinib has not been show...
-
Erlotinib (Tarceva® )
Erlotinib is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer in patients who have already been treated with at least one other chemotherapy medication and have not gotten better. Erlotinib is also used in combination with anoth...