Current Drugs and Drug Targets in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Limitations and Opportunities

Abstract

Lung cancer is a serious health problem and leading cause of death worldwide due to its high incidence and mortality. More than 80% of lung cancers feature a non-small cell histology. Over few decades, systemic chemotherapy and surgery are the only treatment options in this type of tumor but due to their limited efficacy and overall poor survival of patients, there is an urge to develop newer therapeutic strategies which circumvent the problems. Enhanced knowledge of translational science and molecular biology have revealed that lung tumors carry diverse driver gene mutations and adopt different intracellular pathways leading to carcinogenesis. Hence, the development of targeted agents against molecular subgroups harboring critical mutations is an attractive approach for therapeutic treatment. Targeted therapies are clearly more preferred nowadays over systemic therapies because they target tumor specific molecules resulting with enhanced activity and reduced toxicity to normal tissues. Thus, this review encompasses comprehensive updates on targeted therapies for the driver mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the potential challenges of acquired drug resistance faced in the field of targeted therapy along with the imminent newer treatment modalities against lung cancer.

Cytokine-induced killer cell therapy for modulating regulatory T cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

“…Approximately 80% of all lung cancer cases are non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (10,11) and the majority of patients have been diagnosed in the advanced stage (12). At present the primary method for clinical treatment of advanced NSCLC is drug treatment, including chemotherapy and biological therapy (which may involve tumor specific monoclonal antibodies, molecular targeted drugs or antiangiogenic drugs).…”

IL-24 Inhibits Lung Cancer Growth by Suppressing GLI1 and Inducing DNA Damage

“…Lung cancer-related death is primarily due to complexity in the molecular biology of the disease, resulting in drug resistance and metastasis [6]. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the molecular signaling involved in lung carcinogenesis and to identify new therapeutic targets.…”

“…Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, despite extensive advances made in treatment approaches [1][2][3][4][5]. Drug resistance and metastasis make effective treatment strategies difficult [6]. Several ongoing studies into the molecular basis of lung cancer have shown that various signaling pathways are deregulated during the tumorigenic process and are involved in the resistance of cancer cells to existing therapies [7].…”

Long non‑coding RNA CCAT1 enhances human non‑small cell lung cancer growth through downregulation of microRNA‑218

“…Patients burdened with large size tumors usually have poor clinical prognosis. Even though new drugs targeting various critical oncogenes significantly reduce tumor size before surgery, side-effects seriously restrict the effective clinical application of these drugs (2). Thus, the identification of new therapeutic targets remains vital for effective NSCLC treatment.…”