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Cascade‐amplification of therapeutic efficacy: An emerging opportunity in cancer treatment
Author(s) -
Li Menghuan,
Luo Zhong,
Peng Zhihong,
Cai Kaiyong
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
wiley interdisciplinary reviews: nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1939-0041
pISSN - 1939-5116
DOI - 10.1002/wnan.1555
Subject(s) - therapeutic modalities , disease , cancer , medicine , modalities , computational biology , computer science , risk analysis (engineering) , bioinformatics , biology , social science , sociology
Increasing research evidence reveals that cancer is complex disease involving many biological factors, processes and systems, which may severely limit the actual efficacy of conventional monotonic anticancer approaches. To overcome these obstacles in cancer treatment, a new strategy has been proposed by combining multiple synergistic therapeutic modalities accessing different but inherently related targets and acting sequentially. A major benefit of this strategy is that the multi‐target mechanism could result in a cascade‐amplification effect leading to enhanced anticancer activity. In this review, we provide a critical discussion on the application of cascade‐amplification strategy in the treatment of various cancer indications, focusing on the rational combination of therapeutic agents and their mechanisms of action. A concise yet comprehensive analysis on the potential therapeutic benefit of this strategy was also included. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease