Personalized approaches to lung cancer treatment: A review of targeted therapies, pharmacogenomics, and combination strategies

Abstract

Globally, lung cancer—more specifically, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)—contributes significantly to the death toll from cancer. Recent advances in molecular research have identified key genetic mutations that drive tumor growth, including those in the EGFR, KRAS, ALK, and MET genes, accounting for around 80 % of lung cancers that are categorized as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The advent of targeted therapies such as Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and monoclonal antibodies, have revolutionized cancer treatment by specifically inhibiting oncogenic pathway. However, despite this advancements, treatment outcomes remain suboptimal due to intrinsic heterogeneity of cancers and the development of resistance mechanisms. The cancer treatment landscape is constantly changing to address these challenges and improve patient outcomes. Customization of cancer therapies through pharmacogenomics is hindered by tumor adapatability and resistance, limited prognostic biomarkers and suboptimal monotherapies, necessitating innovative research in adoptive therapies biomarker development and combination therapies. Ongoing trails aims to enhance treatment endurance via the advancement of combination regimens incorporating multiple targeted therapies or synergistic combination immunotherapy with chemotherapy. Ongoing research is focused on optimizing CRISPR-Cas9 delivery system, improving specificity and minimizing half target effect. Emphasizes the crucial role of molecular mutations, the advantages and disadvantages of targeted medicines, and the prospects for enhancing the effectiveness of lung cancer treatment results are all highlighted in this Review.