Targeted α therapy for cancer: where we are today and where we are heading
New approaches in the treatment of cancer are necessary to overcome the limited therapeutic efficacy and high costs of currently available therapeutics. Conventional therapies often have negative side effects such as nausea, vomiting, hair loss, general malaise and depression. This seriously affects the patient’s overall health and quality of life. Moreover, the disease will most likely recur in time due to the survival and spreading of cancerous cells, or micrometastases, from the original tumor to other areas in the body. Micrometastases are small number of cancer cells that have spread beyond the original tumor, but are too small to be detected by diagnostic tests such as computed tomography and MRI.
There are few therapies to stop the development of advanced metastatic cancer from micrometastases after local treatment of primary tumor. This is the Achilles heel of cancer management. Control of micrometastases means improved prognosis.
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