Targeted Therapy

The development of targeted therapy represents an exciting new approach to cancer treatment. A small number of these drugs have already been FDA approved and several others are currently in clinical trials. In August of 2017, researchers from the University of Colorado Cancer Center performed a study on lung cancer patients. Researchers looked at both the overall survival and the progression-free survival, also known as the time it take for a tumor to restart its growth, of the patient. The researchers found that, "With immunotherapies, there were better outcomes for deeper responses, but it didn’t break down the same way as with targeted treatment against ALK-positive cancer." This means, that for their study with lung cancer patients, the data suggested that the deeper response, the longer it will last. This suggests that the depth of the response may allow physicians and patients to better compare treatment activity. 1 [ ]