Targeted therapies

Chemotherapy drugs attack healthy cells as well as cancerous ones, leading to toxic side effects. Recently, researchers have been exploring drugs that specifically target cancer cells by interfering with proteins and receptors involved in their growth. One of these targeted therapies used against lung cancer is erlotinib (brand name Tarceva). Erlotinib has been shown both to extend survival and to improve quality of life for patients with recurrent non-small-cell lung cancer who have already undergone one or two therapies. Erlotinib is particularly effective in some groups of patients, including nonsmokers, women, those of Asian descent, and those with adenocarcinoma.

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Bevacizumab (brand name Avastin) is another targeted agent. It is an antibody, similar to proteins your body's immune system makes. Bevacizumab does not directly target the tumor but targets the blood vessels that supply tumors with nutrients, oxygen and glucose, that the cancer needs to grow. Bevacizumab has been shown to increase the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy drugs used to treat non-small-cell lung cancers other than squamous-cell cancer. It has also been shown to prolong survival in this group of patients. Bevacizumab is associated with increased risk of bleeding and is not used in patients on anticoagulants ("blood thinners") or whose cancer has spread to the brain, among other patient groups.