Novel cancer therapies: more efficacy, less toxicity and improved organ preservation

Novel approaches to the treatment of cancer include techniques such as gene therapy, antiangiogenic therapy, monoclonal antibodies either alone or lin ked with radioactive isotopes or cytotoxins, cancer immunotherapy and vacci nes, oligonucleotides and antisense technologies as well as anticancer drug s targeting single metabolic processes, enzymes or oncoproteins. However, s ubstantial improvements are also being made in more conventional cancer tre atment modalities. These comprise radiotherapy given concomitantly with che motherapy, which appeals to improve treatment results in a number of common types of human cancer. Other important advances include conformal and inte nsity-modulated radiation therapy, which may allow for higher target doses with little or no increase in toxicity. Stereotactic radiation therapy for extracranial targets is also being developed, as well as biologically targe ted radiation therapy, in which targeting is based on metabolic pathways or carrier molecules, such as boronated compounds in boron neutron capture th erapy or monoclonal antibodies in radioimmunotherapy. Sentinel node biopsy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer represent advances in surger y and cancer chemotherapy, which may also allow for a greater chance for or gan and tissue preservation without a loss in treatment efficacy.