RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Challenges and Opportunities for Childhood Cancer Drug Development
JF Pharmacological Reviews
JO Pharmacol Rev
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 671
OP 697
DO 10.1124/pr.118.016972
VO 71
IS 4
A1 Peter J. Houghton
A1 Raushan T. Kurmasheva
A2 Michael M. Gottesman
YR 2019
UL http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/71/4/671.abstract
AB Cancer in children is rare with approximately 15,700 new cases diagnosed in the United States annually. Through use of multimodality therapy (surgery, radiation therapy, and aggressive chemotherapy), 70% of patients will be “cured” of their disease, and 5-year event-free survival exceeds 80%. However, for patients surviving their malignancy, therapy-related long-term adverse effects are severe, with an estimated 50% having chronic life-threatening toxicities related to therapy in their fourth or fifth decade of life. While overall intensive therapy with cytotoxic agents continues to reduce cancer-related mortality, new understanding of the molecular etiology of many childhood cancers offers an opportunity to redirect efforts to develop effective, less genotoxic therapeutic options, including agents that target oncogenic drivers directly, and the potential for use of agents that target the tumor microenvironment and immune-directed therapies. However, for many high-risk cancers, significant challenges remain.