Advances in molecular targeted therapies to increase efficacy of (chemo)radiation therapy

  • Recent advances in understanding the tumor's biology in line with a constantly growing number of innovative technologies have prompted characterization of patients' individual malignancies and may display a prerequisite to treat cancer at its patient individual tumor vulnerability. In recent decades, radiation- induced signaling and tumor promoting local events for radiation sensitization were explored in detail, resulting the development of novel molecular targets. A multitude of pharmacological, genetic, and immunological principles, including small molecule- and antibody-based targeted strategies, have been developed that are suitable for combined concepts with radiation (RT) or chemoradiation therapy (CRT). Despite a plethora of promising experimental and preclinical findings, however, so far, only a very limited number of clinical trials have demonstrated a better outcome and/or patient benefit when RT or CRT are combined with targeted agents. The current review aims to summarize recent progress in molecular therapies targeting oncogenic drivers, DNA damage and cell cycle response, apoptosis signaling pathways, cell adhesion molecules, hypoxia, and the tumor microenvironment to impact therapy refractoriness and to boost radiation response. In addition, we will discuss recent advances in nanotechnology, e.g., RNA technologies and protein-degrading proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) that may open new and innovative ways to benefit from molecular-targeted therapy approaches with improved efficacy.

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Metadaten
Author:Kristina ViktorssonORCiD, Thorsten RieckmannORCiDGND, Maximilian FleischmannGND, Markus DiefenhardtORCiDGND, Stephanie HehlgansORCiDGND, Franz RödelORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-851109
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00066-023-02064-y
ISSN:1439-099X
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37041372
Parent Title (English):Strahlentherapie und Onkologie
Publisher:Springer Medizin
Place of publication:Berlin ; Heidelberg
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2023/04/11
Date of first Publication:2023/04/11
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2025/02/03
Tag:DNA damage response; Nanoparticles; Noncoding RNAs; Radiation sensitization; Translational research
Volume:199
Issue:12
Page Number:19
First Page:1091
Last Page:1109
Institutes:Medizin
Dewey Decimal Classification:6 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften / 61 Medizin und Gesundheit / 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International