Molecular targeting in radiotherapy of lung cancer.

Molecular targeting is a promising option to increase the radiation response of tumours and to decrease normal tissue reactions, i.e. to achieve therapeutic gain. Molecular targeting substances in themselves are not curative while radiation is a highly efficient cytotoxic agent, with local recurrences often occurring from only few surviving clonogenic cells. High-dose radiotherapy therefore offers optimal conditions to evaluate the potential of specific biology-driven drugs for oncology. This review summarises the current status of preclinical and clinical research on combined radiation with examples of molecular targeting substances relevant for the treatment of NSCLC (EGFR, COX-2, VEGFR, KGF, TGF-beta, BBI).