Anti-growth factor therapy for lung cancer

Lung cancers are the leading cause of cancer death in developed countries. in the USA, lung cancer accounts for 29% of all cancer deaths. The cure rat e for lung cancer is low (14%) because the cancer spreads early and because chemotherapy cannot cure metastatic disease. in small cell lung cancer (SC LC) two-thirds of patients present with metastatic disease in a distant org an (stage IV). In non-small cell lung cancers (adenocarcinoma, squamous car cinoma, large cell carcinoma) one-third present with metastatic disease. In itial chemotherapy produces high response rates in both SCLC (85%-90% respo nse rate) and NSCLC (50% response rate) but response duration is short and drug resistance develops rapidly. Growth factors play an important role in the pathogenesis and the progression of lung cancers. Knowledge of the role of these growth factors, their receptors and their signal pathways has pro duced new therapeutic targets. Compounds developed toward these targets hav e completed preclinical testing and are now in clinical trials. Some of the se compounds are active in both drug sensitive and drug resistant lung canc ers. They also produce synergistic growth inhibition when combined with cyt otoxic chemotherapeutic agents. Thus, these compounds may provide a new way to overcome drug resistance in lung cancer.