Is cabozantinib a targeted drug or a chemotherapy drug?

Cabotinib, also known asXL184 or Cometriq, is a multi-target small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor. Regarding this question, we can clearly say that cabozantinib is a targeted drug, not a traditional chemotherapy drug.

Targeted drugs target specific molecular targets and achieve the purpose of treating diseases by inhibiting the functions of these targets. Cabozantinib is such a drug that can inhibit multiple targets at the same time, including MET, VEGFR, RET, etc., thus blocking the growth and spread of tumor cells.

Chemotherapy drugs usually kill or inhibit the growth of cancer cells by interfering with the cells' DNA synthesis or function. This approach is often also highly toxic to normal cells.

The specificity of cabozantinib lies in its ability to inhibit specific tyrosine kinase receptors, which play key roles in tumor development, metastasis, angiogenesis, and microenvironment maintenance. Therefore, cabozantinib can target cancer cells more precisely and reduce damage to normal cells.

In contrast, chemotherapy drugs often lack this specificity. While they kill cancer cells, they also cause greater damage to normal cells, leading to a series of side effects.

Cabozantinib is widely used in clinical treatment of various cancers, such as thyroid cancer, renal cancer, liver cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. The side effects are relatively mild, mainly including diarrhea, nausea, fatigue, etc., and can usually be relieved by adjusting the dose or suspending the medication.

The side effects of chemotherapy drugs are usually more serious, including nausea, vomiting, hair loss, bone marrow suppression, etc., which have a greater impact on patients' quality of life.