Experts discuss better drug use for cancer treatment

Medical experts from Renji Hospital have teamed up with colleagues from home and abroad to research the history, development and future of cancer treatment, and offer strategies on advances and challenges of rational combinations of targeted cancer therapies.

The research was published in world-leading journal Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

Experts discussed the drug resistance for targeted therapy, and gave suggestions on individualized treatment to overcome it. They also discussed the future of clinical development of these therapies.

Drug resistance consists of primary resistance (which exists before the first chemotherapy) and acquired resistance (which develops after receiving medication). It is the biggest cause impacting the effect of cancer treatment.

The research gives explanations on the angle of molecular mechanisms on drug resistance, which has strong potential for clinical adoption for reasonable drug use.

Moreover, the research studied the strategies on immunotherapy and solutions on combined use of different immunotherapies.

The research reiterated the importance of developing technology for better drug use and a reasonable design for comprehensive drug use.

Experts said the best way to provide more clinical benefit to patients within a short period of time is a better combination and use of current medicines instead of looking for more new targets.