Biologics & Targeted Therapies
Biologic Therapy
Biological therapies use the body's immune system to fight cancer or to lessen the side effects that may be caused by some cancer treatments .Biological response modifiers (BRMs) occur naturally in the body and can be produced in the laboratory. BRMs alter the interaction between the body's immune defenses and cancer cells to boost, direct, or restore the body's ability to fight the disease.
Biological therapies include interferons, interleukins, colony-stimulating factors, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, gene therapy, and nonspecific immunomodulating agents.
Biological therapies can cause a number of side effects, which can vary widely from agent to agent and patient to patient.
- Biological Therapies - An Overview - National Cancer Institute
- Biological Therapies for Cancer: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute
Targeted Therapy
Targeted cancer therapies use drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules involved in carcinogenesis (the process by which normal cells become cancer cells) and tumor growth. Because scientists call these molecules “molecular targets,” therapies that interfere with them are sometimes called “molecular-targeted drugs,” “molecularly targeted therapies,” or other similar names.
- Understanding Targeted Treatments - American Society of Clinical Oncology
- Targeted Therapies - Breastcancer.org
- Overview - Targeted Therapies - Susan G. Komen for the Cure
- Targerted Therapy - American Cancer Society
- Targeted Cancer Therapies: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute
