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Drugs that lack single-agent activity: are they worth pursuing in combination?

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 14, pages 193–194 (2017)Cite this article

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Over the past decade, many anticancer drugs have been approved for use only in combination regimens and only in palliative settings, despite having negligible single-agent activity in the same disease. We examine whether these agents provide any tangible clinical benefits and are worthy of continued development, or whether R&D efforts would be better focused elsewhere.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Haemato-Oncology, Nobel Hospital, Kathmandu, 21034, Sinamangal, Nepal

    Bishal Gyawali

  2. Division of Hematology Oncology, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU), 3181 South West Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, 97239–3098, Oregon, USA

    Vinay Prasad

  3. Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, OSHU, 3181 South West Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, 97239–3098, Oregon, USA

    Vinay Prasad

  4. Center for Ethics in Health Care, OHSU, 3181 South West Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, 97239–3098, Oregon, USA

    Vinay Prasad

Authors
  1. Bishal Gyawali
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  2. Vinay Prasad
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Correspondence to Vinay Prasad.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Approvals of drugs with limited evidence of single-agent activity as combination therapies (DOC 53 kb)

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Gyawali, B., Prasad, V. Drugs that lack single-agent activity: are they worth pursuing in combination?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 14, 193–194 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2017.27

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