How much does targeted therapy cost? Let me tell you the answer

Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignant tumor in the world and the second most common in terms of mortality. my country is a high-incidence area for gastric cancer, with about 400,000 new cases each year. So how much does targeted therapy for gastric cancer cost? Targeted therapy is effective but expensive. In addition, targeted drugs are divided into domestic and imported ones, and the price difference between the two is quite large. It depends on how you choose.

Targeted therapy is a type of cancer treatment that uses drugs. But it's different from traditional chemotherapy, which also uses drugs to treat cancer. Targeted therapy works by targeting specific genes, proteins in cancer, or areas of the tissue environment that help tumors grow and survive. These genes and proteins are found in cancer cells or in cells associated with tumor growth, such as blood vessel cells.

Doctors often use targeted therapies along with chemotherapy and other treatments. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved targeted therapies for many types of cancer. Scientists are also testing drugs for new cancer targets.

The “target” of targeted therapy

To better understand how targeted therapies work, it's helpful to understand how cancer cells grow. Cells make up every tissue in your body. There are many different cell types, such as blood cells, brain cells, and skin cells. Each type has a specific function. Cancer starts when certain genes in healthy cells change. This change is called a mutation.

Genes tell cells how to make proteins that keep cells working. If genes change, these proteins change too. This makes cells divide abnormally or live too long. When this happens, cells can grow out of control and form tumors. Learn more about cancer genetics.

Researchers are learning that specific genetic changes occur in some cancers. So they are developing drugs that target these changes. These drugs can:

Blocking or turning off the signals that tell cancer cells to grow and divide

Prevents cells from living longer than normal

Destroy cancer cells

Types of targeted therapy

There are several targeted treatments:

Monoclonal antibodies. Drugs called "monoclonal antibodies" block specific targets on the outside of cancer cells and/or the targets may be in the area surrounding the tumor. These drugs are like a plastic cover that goes over an electrical outlet. The plug keeps electricity from flowing out of the outlet.

Drugs called "monoclonal antibodies" block specific targets on the outside of cancer cells and/or the targets may be in the area surrounding the tumor. These drugs act like plastic

Monoclonal antibodies can also send toxic substances directly to cancer cells. For example, they can help chemotherapy and radiation therapy get to cancer cells better. You usually get these drugs injected into a vein, or “intravenously” (IV).

Small molecule drugs. Drugs called "small molecule drugs" can stop the process by which cancer cells multiply and spread. These drugs are usually taken as pills. Angiogenesis inhibitors are an example of this type of targeted therapy. These drugs stop the tissue around the tumor from forming blood vessels. Angiogenesis is the name for making new blood vessels. Tumors need blood vessels to supply them with nutrients. Nutrients help it grow and spread. Anti-angiogenesis therapy starves the tumor by preventing the formation of new blood vessels.

With the development of medical science, we have realized that the occurrence and development of tumors are related to the changes in many of our own genes and abnormal signal transduction pathways. The so-called targeted therapy is to interrupt certain specific signal transduction pathways in the pathogenesis of tumors or a certain pathogenesis using monoclonal antibodies and small molecules to achieve the purpose of treating tumors.

Compared with traditional chemotherapy, targeted therapy has its own advantages. First, targeted drugs are more targeted, only targeting cancer cells, and have a definite effect. Second, targeted drugs have mild side effects, will not damage normal cell tissues, lack the common side effects of chemotherapy, will not cause patients to lose their hair, and will not cause patients to feel nausea and vomit.