Why does cancer therapy lack effective anti-metastasis drugs?

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Translational Medicine
• Drug Development

Background:

• Cancer metastasis remains a significant cause of mortality, with limited therapeutic options.
• Existing cancer drugs primarily focus on inhibiting tumor cell proliferation, neglecting metastasis.
• The molecular mechanisms of metastasis are less understood than early cancer development, hindering targeted therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the urgent need for novel anti-metastasis drugs.
• To discuss strategies for preventing cancer cell dissemination and suppressing existing metastases.
• To propose adjustments in drug development and clinical trial processes for anti-metastasis agents.

Main Methods:

• Review of current therapeutic strategies for cancer metastasis.
• Analysis of the historical progression of understanding cancer biology.
• Proposal of new paradigms for clinical trials of anti-metastasis drugs.

Main Results:

• Shared molecular targets across different cancers offer broad therapeutic potential for anti-metastasis drugs.
• Two complementary strategies exist: preventing dissemination and suppressing existing metastases.
• Current drug development and trial systems are not optimized for anti-metastasis agents.

Conclusions:

• Accelerating the availability of anti-metastasis drugs requires increased risk tolerance in trials for patients with poor prognoses.
• Clinical trials for drugs preventing cancer dissemination should occur earlier in treatment.
• Modernizing clinical trial systems is essential for agents targeting existing metastases, ultimately transforming drug development standards.