Cancer pharmacotherapy: 21st century 'magic bullets' and changing paradigms.

Abstract

In this month's issue of the Journal we focus on cancer pharmacotherapy. The articles provide insights into the current scientific basis of recently available and potential anti-cancer drugs, and discuss the current and future challenges in using classical cytotoxica and molecularly targeted anti-cancer drugs. Over the past decade the explosion in new and potential anti-cancer drugs has had its foundation in an increased scientific understanding of the biology of cancer [1]. The current oncology drug pipeline of the pharmaceutical industry contains nearly 400 small molecules and biological modifiers undergoing clinical development [2]. Optimal anti-cancer drug treatment, whether it involves the use of classical cytotoxic agents or novel molecularly targeted anti-cancer drugs, will require oncologists to incorporate into their therapeutic decisions up-to-date knowledge of the factors that contribute to the variability in human drug response [3–6]. The therapeutic armamentarium of 21st century oncologists when compared with that of the earliest physicians, or for that matter with that available in the mid 20th century, has a greater number of drugs, is more complex, uses many multi-drug combinations and continues to expand.