Discovery of small molecule cancer drugs: successes, challenges and opportunities.

ABSTRACT: The discovery and development of small molecule cancer drugs has been revolutionised over the last decade. Most notably, we have moved from a one-size-fits-all approach that emphasized cytotoxic chemotherapy to a personalised medicine strategy that focuses on the discovery and development of molecularly targeted drugs that exploit the particular genetic addictions, dependencies and vulnerabilities of cancer cells. These exploitable characteristics are increasingly being revealed by our expanding understanding of the abnormal biology and genetics of cancer cells, accelerated by cancer genome sequencing and other high-throughput genome-wide campaigns, including functional screens using RNA interference. In this review we provide an overview of contemporary approaches to the discovery of smal

SUBMITTER: Hoelder S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3476506 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature