How Targeted Therapy Works

Targeted therapies are made to find and attack specific areas or substances in cancer cells, or can detect and block certain kinds of messages sent inside a cancer cell that tell it to grow. Some of the substances in cancer cells that become the “targets” of targeted therapies are:

  • Too much of a certain protein on a cancer cell
  • A protein on a cancer cell that is not on normal cells
  • A protein that is mutated (changed) in some way on a cancer cell
  • Gene (DNA) changes that are not in a normal cell.

The action of targeted drugs can work to:

  • Block or turn off chemical signals that tell the cancer cell to grow and divide
  • Change proteins within the cancer cells so the cells die
  • Stop making new blood vessels to feed the cancer cells
  • Trigger your immune system to kill the cancer cells
  • Carry toxins to the cancer cells to kill them, but not normal cells

The action of the drugs can affect where these drugs work and what side effects they cause.