Chapter 1 - Combination therapy: Current status and future perspectives

Abstract

A one-size-fits-all approach to treating diseases of current concern seems increasingly ineffective, more difficult, and unrealistic. Due largely to resistant strains of disease-causing pathogens and genetic differences in patients, modern medicine is beginning to change its approach. This shift is seen in the attention being paid toward personalized medicine, attempts at fewer side effects, broad spectrum activity, and ongoing research into gene therapy and immunotherapy. One method gaining attention is the use of combination drugs or combination therapy, sometimes referred to as polytherapy, which is a broad term for the use of multiple medications or therapies to fight the same condition. While it typically denotes the use of two or more drugs, it can also include immunotherapy, nonmedical therapies, including psychological therapy, and other means of therapy or treatment. The practice may not be new, but there has been a large increase in the number of approved and researched combination therapies over the past decade. The one drug-one target or magic bullet model has limited viability, and combination therapy is now the norm in the treatment of many cancers, viral infections such as HIV, and tuberculosis treatment. Overall, current data support that combination therapy with two or more drugs appears to be more effective than monotherapy to combat the multidrug resistance problem.