Targeted therapy, also known as molecularly targeted therapy, is a key type of cancer treatment (pharmacotherapy). Others include hormonal therapy and cytotoxic chemotherapy. As a form of molecular medicine, targeted therapy blocks the growth of cancer cells by interfering with specific molecules needed for cancer to develop and grow. This is different from traditional chemotherapy, which simply interferes with all rapidly dividing cells. As most targeted therapy drugs are biopharmaceuticals, the term 'biologic therapy' is sometimes used as a synonym for targeted therapy when it comes to cancer treatment. This is to distinguish it from chemotherapy, which is a different type of treatment. However, the different types of treatment can be combined. Antibody-drug conjugates, for example, combine biological and cytotoxic mechanisms into one targeted therapy.
Another form of targeted therapy uses nanoengineered enzymes to bind to a tumour cell. This allows the body's natural cell degradation process to digest the cell, effectively eliminating it from the body.
We're expecting targeted cancer therapies to be more effective than older forms of treatment and less harmful to normal cells. Many targeted therapies are examples of immunotherapy (using immune mechanisms for therapeutic goals) developed by the field of cancer immunology. So, as immunomodulators, they're one type of biological response modifier.
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