A Beginner's Guide to Targeted Cancer Treatments

The accessible guide to the principles behind new, more targeted drug treatments for cancer

Written for anyone who encounters cancer patients, cancer data or cancer terminology, but have no more than a passing knowledge of cell biology. A Beginner's Guide to Targeted Cancer Treatments provides an understanding of how cancer works and the many new treatments available.

Using over 100 original illustrations, this accessible handbook covers the biology and mechanisms behind a huge range of targeted drug treatments, including many new immunotherapies. Dr Vickers translates a complex and often overwhelming topic into something digestible and easily understood. She also explains what cancer is, how it behaves and how our understanding of cancer has changed in recent years.

Each chapter takes the reader through how new cancer drugs work and their benefits and limitations. With the help of this book, readers will be able to better understand more complex, in-depth articles in journals and books and develop their knowledge. This vital resource:

• Offers the latest insights into cancer biology
• Provides a broad understanding of how targeted cancer treatments work
• Describes many of the new immunotherapy approaches to cancer treatment, such as checkpoint inhibitors and CAR-modified T cells
• Helps readers feel confident discussing treatment options with colleagues and patients
• Provides an overview of which treatments are relevant to each of the most common solid tumours and haematological cancers, and the rationale behind them
• Demystifies the jargon – terms such as the EMT, cancer stem cells, monoclonal antibodies, kinase inhibitors, angiogenesis inhibitors etc.
• Explains the resistance mechanisms to many new treatments, including issues such as the way cancer cells diversify and evolve and the complex environment in which they live

Nyckelord:

Information on cancer treatments; resource for current cancer treatments; guide to cancer treatments; an introduction to cancer biology; how do cancer cells behave; the cancer environment; how cancer cells spread; new cancer treatments; block cell communication cancer treatment; angiogenesis inhibitors; Angiogenesis inhibitors; Drugs that target fusion proteins; Drugs that attach to proteins on the surface of white blood cells; Drugs that use the immune system; success and failure of cancer treatments; side effects of cancer drugs; will chemotherapy become obsolete; cancer treatments under development; important biomarkers and diagnostic tests for cancer treatment; antibodies; kinase inhibitors; CDK inhibitors; PARP inhibitors; targeted cancer treatments; targeted cancer therapies; immunotherapy; checkpoint inhibitors; CAR T cells; EGFR inhibitors: B-Raf inhibitors; MEK inhibitors: HER2 treatments; biological therapy; cancer drugs; cancer growth blockers; cancer vaccines