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Assessment of Resistance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors by an Interrogation of Signal Transduction Pathways by Antibody Arrays
07:42

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Published on: September 19, 2018

ErbB receptors: from oncogenes to targeted cancer therapies

Hongtao Zhang1, Alan Berezov, Qiang Wang

  • 1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6082, USA.

The Journal of Clinical Investigation
|August 3, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Targeted cancer therapies are improving, especially for ErbB receptor-driven cancers. Future treatments will focus on optimizing therapies to inhibit ErbB receptor complexes for better outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Aberrant activation of the ErbB receptor family is a key driver in numerous human cancers.
  • Targeted therapies, including monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and small molecule inhibitors, are already used against ErbB receptors.
  • Current ErbB-targeted therapies have limitations, presenting opportunities for next-generation treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current landscape of ErbB-targeted therapies.
  • To highlight the potential for optimizing next-generation therapies by targeting ErbB receptor complexes.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on ErbB receptor signaling and targeted therapies.
  • Analysis of current therapeutic strategies and their limitations.
  • Discussion of future directions in ErbB-targeted drug development.

Main Results:

  • Monoclonal antibodies targeting the extracellular domain and small molecule inhibitors targeting the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain are established ErbB-targeted therapies.
  • ErbB receptor family members form heteromeric complexes that contribute to cancer progression.
  • Current therapies do not fully address the complexity of ErbB receptor heteromerization.

Conclusions:

  • Next-generation targeted therapies should focus on inhibiting ErbB receptor heteromeric complexes.
  • Optimizing therapies to block ErbB receptor interactions holds promise for improved cancer treatment outcomes.

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