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Targeted Therapeutic Agents

Meaning

Targeted therapeutic agents are a class of pharmacological compounds specifically engineered to interfere with the discrete molecular pathways that are essential for the proliferation, survival, or aberrant signaling of diseased cells, most notably cancer cells. Unlike conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy, these agents act selectively on specific molecular targets, such as mutated proteins or overexpressed receptors, thereby significantly reducing damage to healthy, non-diseased tissues. Their clinical application is central to the modern strategy of personalized and precision medicine.