Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer

Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is a comprehensive exploration of the molecular aspects of childhood cancers that are currently being targeted therapeutically or are in the early phases of development. Each chapter describes key molecular characteristics of hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors in children and young adults that are fundamental to the etiology, survival and drug resistance of these cancers as well as able to serve as tumor selective pathways for treatment. There has never been a more optimal time to explore the current and future use of molecularly targeted therapies in pediatric oncology. Conventional chemotherapeutic approaches have been dose intensified to such an extent that acute and late toxicities have reached maximal points while the rate of cure has slowed. The volume moves beyond conventional chemotherapeutic approaches to explore approaches that target tumor selective molecular and immunologic characteristics. The chapters further explore how such targeted therapies can begin to be integrated with conventional regimens in order to improve efficacy while reducing morbidity. While molecularly targeted therapies have generated great excitement in the world of oncology, their impact for pediatric patients may provide some of the greatest impact in part because of their developmental susceptibilities to conventional cytotoxic treatments. In addition, less toxic and more effective therapies hold great promise for improving the outcome of pediatric patients in developing countries where supportive care measures may not always be optimal. Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is thus a timely first foray into the world of targeted, pathway directed treatment approaches for pediatric patients with cancer and brings us one step closer to the day when Paul Erhlich’s hope for therapeutic Magic Bullets becomes the conventional approach to cure.