Oncogenomics: The Future Of Cancer Therapy

摘要

At present, cancer accounts for 12% of the 56 million deaths occurring annually, making it one of the leading causes for death. The primary obstacle clinicians face today is that they are not adequately equipped to tackle this imminent threat. However, with the recent developments in the field of oncogenomics, our knowledge of exactly where, why and how tumorigenesis occurs has increased manifold. Genomic technologies such as 'comparative genomic hybridization' and cDNA microarrays have helped to improve our understanding of the genetic basis of cancer. Researchers are presently looking towards developing new anticancer drugs based on the discovery of novel molecular targets. The success stories of agents like Trastuzumab and Gleevec?)used in the therapy of HER-2 positive breast cancers and chronic myelegenous leukemia (CML) respectively, give us hope that not too long from now, oncogenomics will no longer remain a mere research modality, but will be used in clinical practice for the effective therapy of cancer. This article reviews some of the more recent developments in the field of cancer genomics and discusses the current status as well as the future trends. Introduction Despite the advances in medical research, cancer is still one of the leading causes for death. Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization (WHO), published the World Cancer Report, which states that in the year 2000 alone, there were 10 million new cases of cancer reported globally. This figure is predicted to rise by a staggering 50% by the year 2020, due to steadily ageing populations, current trends in smoking prevalence, and unhealthy lifestyles. As per the American Cancer Society estimates, in India alone, at any given time, there are 2.5 million cases of cancer. Table 1 shows the global incidence of cancer in the year 2002. The figures are compiled from the American Cancer Society publications (Parkin et al, 2005).