Is targeted therapy for lung cancer effective? Specific content of targeted therapy for lung cancer

Lung cancer is the most common malignant tumor in the world today. If advanced non-small cell lung cancer is not treated, the median survival period is only 4 to 5 months, and the one-year survival rate does not exceed 10%. Most patients will eventually relapse and metastasize after treatment. At this time, targeted drug therapy will be chosen. So, is the effect of targeted therapy for lung cancer good?

The three drugs that are most familiar to people for targeted treatment of lung cancer are Iressa, Tarceva and Conmana. They have certain effects, but also have certain side effects.

Tarceva is the only targeted therapy drug in my country that has been proven to effectively treat advanced non-small cell lung cancer and thus prolong the survival of patients. Most cancer patients are in poor physical condition and generally cannot tolerate the toxic side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Tarceva directly targets tumor cells, making up for the defects of strong side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and effectively improving the patient's own immune resistance. Tarceva is an oral administration route, which is convenient to take and avoids a series of adverse factors that may be caused by intravenous injection. It is safe and non-toxic, and can fundamentally improve the quality of life of patients and prolong their lives.

A large number of clinical trials have shown that Tarceva can significantly improve the prognosis of patients compared to placebo, with an improvement rate of up to 42.5%. In addition, Tarceva can also effectively avoid a series of chemotherapy-related adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting, hair loss, and neuropathy.

Although molecular targeted drugs are increasingly used in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, the drug resistance that gradually arises is becoming a major problem that plagues the clinic. Now, for secondary drug resistance, third-generation TKIs, such as AZD9291, can be used instead. However, if you want to use targeted therapy, you must first do a genetic test to see if there is a mutation in EGFR and whether the ALK gene is fused. Only if it is positive, can you consider targeted therapy. Of course, if these tests cannot be done in some places, or if you are unwilling to do genetic testing for economic reasons, if you have never smoked and are a woman, and the pathology is adenocarcinoma, you can try it for one month. If it is effective, continue. If it is ineffective, switch to other treatments.