ABSTRACT
Introduction The treatment of cancer has changed dramatically in the last few years. Until a few years ago, primarily classical chemotherapy was available, represented mainly by drugs that interfere with DNA metabolism and proliferation. With the introduction of targeted therapy, employing compounds directed at dysregulated growth, a new era in the treatment of cancer has begun. These new compounds can be highly effective as single agents in some diseases:
■ Imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) of the Bcr-Abl fusion protein, platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), and c-Kit, is highly effective in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), because it blocks the respective dominant driving forces of malignant cell proliferation in both tumor types.
