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Why is cancer drug discovery so difficult?

Abstract

Thirty-five years after the 'war on cancer' was declared, the discovery of anticancer drugs remains a highly challenging endeavour. Here, we consider the factors responsible, such as tumour heterogeneity, and suggest strategies to improve the chances of short-term success in the development of novel anticancer drugs.

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Figure 1: The challenge of anticancer drug development.
Figure 2: Highly variable anticancer drug response might be a quantitative trait.
Figure 3: The value of early detection, the right drug and the right patient population.
Figure 4: Target-based stratification might prove inadequate.

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Correspondence to Christoph Lengauer.

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Competing interests

A. Kamb is an employee of Amgen. S. Wee and C. Lengauer are employees of Novartis.

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Kamb, A., Wee, S. & Lengauer, C. Why is cancer drug discovery so difficult?. Nat Rev Drug Discov 6, 115–120 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd2155

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