儿童癌症的分子靶向治疗是对儿童癌症的分子方面的全面探索，这些癌症目前正被用于治疗或处于早期发展阶段。每章都描述了儿童和年轻人中造血系统恶性肿瘤和实体瘤的关键分子特征，这些特征对这些癌症的病因、生存和耐药性至关重要，并且能够作为肿瘤选择性治疗途径。
探索分子靶向治疗在儿科肿瘤中的当前和未来应用，从来没有比这更合适的时机。传统的化疗方法已经被剂量强化到这样的程度，急性和晚期毒性已经达到最大值，而治愈率已经放缓。本书超越了传统的化疗方法，探索针对肿瘤选择性分子和免疫学特征的方法。本章进一步探讨了此类靶向疗法如何开始与常规疗法相结合，以提高疗效，同时降低发病率。虽然分子靶向治疗在肿瘤学界引起了极大的兴奋，但它们对儿科患者的影响可能是最大的，部分原因是它们对常规细胞毒性治疗的发育敏感性。此外，在支持性护理措施可能并不总是最佳的发展中国家，毒性更小、更有效的疗法有望改善儿童患者的预后。因此，针对儿童癌症的分子靶向治疗是对针对儿童癌症患者的靶向、路径导向治疗方法的第一次及时尝试，并使我们离Paul Erhlich对治疗魔法子弹的希望成为常规治疗方法的那一天又近了一步。
Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer
Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is a comprehensive exploration of the molecular aspects of childhood cancers that are currently being targeted therapeutically or are in the early phases of development. Each chapter describes key molecular characteristics of hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors in children and young adults that are fundamental to the etiology, survival and drug resistance of these cancers as well as able to serve as tumor selective pathways for treatment.
There has never been a more optimal time to explore the current and future use of molecularly targeted therapies in pediatric oncology. Conventional chemotherapeutic approaches have been dose intensified to such an extent that acute and late toxicities have reached maximal points while the rate of cure has slowed. The volume moves beyond conventional chemotherapeutic approaches to explore approaches that target tumor selective molecular and immunologic characteristics. The chapters further explore how such targeted therapies can begin to be integrated with conventional regimens in order to improve efficacy while reducing morbidity. While molecularly targeted therapies have generated great excitement in the world of oncology, their impact for pediatric patients may provide some of the greatest impact in part because of their developmental susceptibilities to conventional cytotoxic treatments. In addition, less toxic and more effective therapies hold great promise for improving the outcome of pediatric patients in developing countries where supportive care measures may not always be optimal. Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is thus a timely first foray into the world of targeted, pathway directed treatment approaches for pediatric patients with cancer and brings us one step closer to the day when Paul Erhlich’s hope for therapeutic Magic Bullets becomes the conventional approach to cure.
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