Cancer Therapeutics, Molecular Targets, Pharmacology and Clinical Applications--First International Conference 19-21 February 2004, Florence, Italy.

TL;DRAbstract

The treatment of cancer is currently undergoing a conceptual revolution due to the discovery of cancer pathways and mechanisms of oncogenesis. There are presently two complementary approaches in the field of cancer chemotherapy. Firstly, the development of "classical" anticancer agents aimed at the inhibition of cellular proliferation as a whole and bearing global cytotoxic properties that are aimed not only at cancer cells but also at all actively proliferative cells of the organism. Secondly, the development of "targeted" agents, which inhibit specific cancer targets including cyclin-dependent kinases, tyrosine kinase receptors and metalloproteases involved in cell invasion. These new molecularly targeted therapies are still experimental, with the exception of two or three compounds that have been marketed recently; a number of molecules, however, appear promising. It is generally believed that the "cytostatic" properties of classical compounds (in contrast to the cytotoxic propertie

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