© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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© 2004 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
Next Generation of Targeted Radiotherapy Drugs Emerging From the Clinical Pipeline
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
It has been known for at least 100 years that radiation can kill cancer cells, but its original mode of therapeutic delivery—in a beam via an external source—requires knowing the anatomic location of the tumor. Metastases can occur at multiple (and often unknown) sites. And even when the location of a tumor is known, innocent tissues in the line of fire can suffer collateral damage.
In contrast to this outside-in approach, targeted
radiotherapy—systemic administration of radioactive agents that home in
on a particular tissue, antigen, or receptor type—proceeds from the
inside out. Two such compounds, radiolabeled monoclonal antibodies to the CD20
antigen—Zevalin (ibritumomab tiuxetan; Biogen Idec) and Bexxar
(tositumomab; Corixa and GlaxoSmithKline)—are both now approved and in
use for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (see News, Feb. 5, 2003, Vol. 95, No. 3,
p. 189). Several other
radiolabeled antibodies have been shown to be effective in early phase
clinical trials as
Radiolabeled Peptide Receptor Ligands
Bone Seekers
Pick Your Poison
Side Effect as Objective