Jeremiah Metzger Lecture. Targeted cancer therapy.

I have reviewed here and elsewhere the preclinical data and the clinical trials which have demonstrated the efficacy of therapy with monoclonal antibodies that block activation of receptors for growth factors (12). Herceptin is now in clinical use. Our own antibody, C225 against the EGF receptor, shows great promise, but phase III trials need to be completed to prove its efficacy. The research efforts with C225 have involved scientists in academia, the pharmaceutical industry, and the National Cancer Institute, and contributions were made by many collaborators. I believe it is highly likely that blockade of growth factor-mediated signal transduction pathways, in combination with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, will enhance our ability to inhibit, and in some cases to eradicate, many of the common epithelial human malignancies (60).