Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy targets specific molecules in the tumour, usually with the aim of blocking the growth and spread of cancer cells, while limiting damage to healthy cells.

Targeted therapy targets specific molecules in the tumour, usually with the aim of blocking the growth and spread of cancer cells, while limiting damage to healthy cells.

Usually, patients must be tested first to see if they have mutations (changes) that are targeted by these treatments. This testing includes genetic testing (testing blood or saliva) for an inherited mutation, or molecular profiling (testing the tumour tissue) to find mutations in the tumour.

There are targeted therapies approved in Europe for certain groups of pancreatic cancer patients:

• Tarceva^® (erlotinib) is an oral HER1/EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Erlotinib is used in combination with the chemotherapy gemcitabine for advanced pancreatic cancer.
• Lynparza^® (olaparib) is a PARP inhibitor used for the treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients with certain genetic mutations called BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. Their disease must also not have worsened after at least four months of chemotherapy. About 4-7% of pancreatic cancer patients have these BRCA mutations.²⁶

26. Pancan 2022. Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Targeted therapy. Available from: https://pancan.org/facing-pancreatic-cancer/treatment/treatment-types/targeted-therapy/