Targeted drugs the ‘new frontier’ to prevent cancer

TARGETED cancer drugs now being developed will be used to stop the disease before it has a chance to invade the body, a cancer prevention expert claimed yesterday.

Prof Scott Lippman, from the University of Texas, said an understanding of cancer genetics at the molecular and cellular level was providing the basis for screening and early detection initiatives.

“Linking this early detection to targeted tailored therapies for individual groups of high-risk patients is a new frontier in cancer medicine in terms of prevention and treatment of advanced disease,” Prof Lippman said when addressing the sixth international cancer conference at Dublin Castle.