Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer [recurso electrónico] / edited by Peter J. Houghton, Robert J. Arceci.

Hematologic Malignancies -- The Emerging Era of Targeted Therapy in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia -- Molecular Targeted Therapies in T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia -- Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Infant ALL -- Targeted Therapeutic Approaches for AML -- Acute Promyelocytic Leukaemia -- Down Syndrome and Acute Myeloid Leukemia: An Unique Genetic Sensitivity to Chemotherapy -- Targeting RAS Signaling Pathways in Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML) -- Chronic Myeloid Leukemia: Pathophysiology and Therapeutics -- Molecularly Targeted Therapies in Pediatric Myelodysplastic Syndromes -- New Therapeutic Frontiers for Childhood Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma -- Molecular Targeting of Post-transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorders -- Solid Tumors -- Molecularly Targeted Therapies for Astrocytomas -- Targeted Therapy in Medulloblastoma in Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer -- Future Treatments of Ependymoma -- Development of Targeted Therapies for Rhabdoid Tumors Based on the Functions of INI1/hSNF5 Tumor Suppressor -- Development of Targeted Therapies for Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) Related Tumors -- Molecular Therapy for Neuroblastoma -- Ewing’s Sarcoma Family of Tumors: Molecular Targets Need Arrows -- Molecular Targeted Therapy for Wilms’ Tumor -- Molecular Therapy for Rhabdomyosarcoma -- Molecularly Targeted Therapy for Osteosarcoma: Where Do We Go from Here? -- Nonrhabdomyosarcoma Soft Tissue Sarcoma in Children: Developing New Treatments Based on a Better Understanding of Disease Biology.

Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is a comprehensive exploration of the molecular aspects of childhood cancers that are currently being targeted therapeutically or are in the early phases of development. Each chapter describes key molecular characteristics of hematopoietic malignancies and solid tumors in children and young adults that are fundamental to the etiology, survival and drug resistance of these cancers as well as able to serve as tumor selective pathways for treatment. There has never been a more optimal time to explore the current and future use of molecularly targeted therapies in pediatric oncology. Conventional chemotherapeutic approaches have been dose intensified to such an extent that acute and late toxicities have reached maximal points while the rate of cure has slowed. The volume moves beyond conventional chemotherapeutic approaches to explore approaches that target tumor selective molecular and immunologic characteristics. The chapters further explore how such targeted therapies can begin to be integrated with conventional regimens in order to improve efficacy while reducing morbidity. While molecularly targeted therapies have generated great excitement in the world of oncology, their impact for pediatric patients may provide some of the greatest impact in part because of their developmental susceptibilities to conventional cytotoxic treatments. In addition, less toxic and more effective therapies hold great promise for improving the outcome of pediatric patients in developing countries where supportive care measures may not always be optimal. Molecularly-Targeted Therapy for Childhood Cancer is thus a timely first foray into the world of targeted, pathway directed treatment approaches for pediatric patients with cancer and brings us one step closer to the day when Paul Erhlich’s hope for therapeutic Magic Bullets becomes the conventional approach to cure.

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