As the era of targeted cancer drugs has matured, it’s become clear that any single drug stands little chance of keeping cancer in check for an extended period of time in large numbers of patients. So researchers have begun testing combinations of targeted drugs in hopes that a cocktail will prove more effective. This approach has proven successful with traditional chemotherapy, which is often given in multi-drug cocktails. Now Merck and AstraZeneca are pushing the idea further, by pairing two targeted cancer drugs early in development, before either has been clearly proven on its own. The companies will announce today that they will team up to test the drugs, which block two different signaling pathways that are important to the growth of many different types of cancers. Here’s the story from this morning’s

WSJ . “The notion that a single agent is going to be dramatically active in a broad population is unrealistic,” AstraZeneca’s head of oncology told the WSJ. Meanwhile, researchers continue to look at combinations of approved targeted drugs. In a trial announced last week for patients with advanced liver cancer, Nexavar, co-marketed by Bayer and Onyx, will be combined with Tarceva, sold by OSI Pharmaceuticals and Roche. Such combinations aren’t a sure thing — sometimes patients fare worse when doctors add more drugs. Another issue with combinations of targeted therapy is cost. Individual targeted cancer drugs can costs tens of thousands of dollars per patient. Add more drugs, and the cost will climb even higher. Photo: Associated Press

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From Targeted Cancer Drugs to Targeted Cocktails