Cancer Gene Therapy

Cancer therapies are drugs or other substances that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules ("molecular targets") that are involved in the growth, progression, and spread of cancer. Many cancer therapies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat specific types of cancer. The development of targeted therapies requires the identification of good targets that is, targets that play a key role in cancer cell growth and survival. One approach to identifying potential targets is to compare the amounts of individual proteins in cancer cells with those in normal cells. Proteins that are present in cancer cells but not normal cells or that are more abundant in cancer cells would be potential targets, especially if they are known to be involved in cell growth or survival.