{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.020127118644067795, 'fraction_numerical': 0.001059322033898305, 'mean_word_length': 5.133116883116883, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Molecular Targets in Cancer Therapy and Their Impact on Cancer Management

Over the past 30 years, innovative laboratory research has led to an enormous expansion in our understanding of cellular biology and genetics. Using this knowledge, we have learnt about the molecular basis of disease and, concomitantly, a new approach to medicine has emerged that targets the genes, proteins or processes that are pivotal to the development and/or progression of disease. Nowhere is this more evident than oncology, where understanding some of the genetic and biological abnormalities that are responsible for malignant transformation and tumor growth has enabled the development of therapies that specifically target malignant cells. In the future, we hope that these therapies will allow us to control cancer, ultimately making it a chronic, manageable disease. Today, we are beginning to realize the benefits of these new target-specific therapies. The first agents to be licensed for clinical use, such as Herceptin®, MabThera® and GlivecTM, are now commonly used to treat certain tumors. These agents illustrate the potential of targeting pivotal molecules and genes and, encouragingly, they are only a small fraction of the agents that are currently in preclinical or clinical development. This is an exciting time for oncologists; however, we should not forget that this new approach is a result of several decades of research. The development of the first target-specific agents was slow because of the many new challenges faced by scientists and clinicians, but we have benefited from their experience and are reassured by the knowledge that target-specific therapies can be effective. As a result, the subsequent development of new agents is likely to be much faster. In the future, it seems likely that these target-based agents will revolutionize the way we treat and perceive cancer.