Targeted therapies can be effective treatments, but they often only work for a select group of people whose tumors express certain features. Increasingly, oncologists are turning to tumor tests to determine which patients are more or less likely to benefit from these therapies.

Targeted therapies are used to treat a portion of patients for almost every type of cancer. The use of targeted therapies for treatment and the choice of agent chosen vary by cancer type, and situation. Many of the available targeted therapies are used for advanced or cancers. Visit the Cancer Treatment by Cancer Type section for more information on targeted therapies for a specific type of cancer.

The following are common targeted therapies for the cancer types listed below. For information on PARP inhibitors, visit our dedicated section. This is not a complete list of all targeted therapies or indications. Speak with your doctor about other tests and treatments which may be available.

Table of common targeted therapies

	Cancer type	Indication		Type of agent
Afinitor (everolimus)	breast cancer	Combined with exemestane for postmenopausal women with advanced , HER2-negative breast cancer which progressed with letrozole or anastrozole	and	MTOR inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Afinitor (everolimus)	Pancreatic neuro-endocrine tumors (PNET)	Progressive neuroendocrine tumors of pancreatic origin (PNET)	No required	MTOR inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Avastin (bevacizumab)	2-4 ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer	Combined with Lynparza (olaparib) for first-line, for platinum-sensitive cancer	Deficiency () testing	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
	3-4 ovarian, or primary peritoneal cancer	Combined with chemotherapy, followed by Avastin as a single agent following initial surgical resection	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
	Recurrent ovarian, or primary peritoneal cancer	Combined with chemotherapy for platinum-resistant recurrent disease who received no more than 2 prior chemotherapy regimens	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
	Recurrent ovarian, or primary peritoneal cancer	Combined with chemotherapy, followed by Avastin as a single agent, for platinum-sensitive recurrent diesase	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
	colorectal cancer	Combined with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for first-, or second-line treatment	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
	colorectal cancer	Combined with chemotherapy for second-line treatment in patients who have progressed on a first-line Avastin-containing regimen	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
Braftovi (encorafenib)	colorectal cancer	Combined with cetuximab, for the treatment of adult patients with colorectal cancer (CRC)	BRAF V600E tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (a type of kinase inhibitor)
Braftovi (encorafenib)	melanoma	Combined with Mektovi (binimetinib), for the treatment of patients with unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Cotellic (cobimetinib)	melanoma	Combined with Zelboraf (vemurafenib) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Cyramza (ramucirumab)	colorectal cancer	Combined with FOLFIRI chemotherapy, for treatment after disease progression on, or after prior therapy with bevacizumab, oxaliplatin, and a fluoropyrimidine	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)
Enhertu (fam-trastuzumab-deruxtecan-nxki)		Treatment for people who have received a prior anti-HER2 therapy for breast cancer or had their breast cancer come back during or within 6 months of completing treatment for their breast cancer	overexpression ()	Antibody-drug conjugate (chemotherapy attached to antibody to )
Enhertu	breast cancer	As treatment for people who have tumors that are HER2-low, received chemotherapy in the setting and whose cancer no longer responds to hormonal therapy.	HER2-low ( 1+ or 2+)	Targeted chemotherapy (chemo attached to antibody to receptor)
Erbitux (cetuximab)	colorectal cancer	Combined with FOLFIRI for first-line treatment, or combined with irinotecan for cancers that no longer respond to irinotecan-based chemotherapy or as a single agent in patients who have progressed after oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy	EGFR positive and KRAS mutation negative	Blocks epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
Herceptin (trastuzumab)	Breast cancer	The treatment of breast cancer	overexpression ()	Antibody targeting receptors
Ibrance (palbociclib) or Verzenio (abemaciclib)	breast cancer	Combined with an aromatase inhibitor as treatment of , advanced cancer as initial endocrine-based therapy in postmenopausal women or in men	and	CDK4/6 inhibitor
Ibrance (palbociclib) or Verzenio (abemaciclib)	breast cancer	Combined with fulvestrant as treatment of , advanced cancer in postmenopausal women or in men with disease progression following endocrine therapy	and	CDK4/6 inhibitor
Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine)	breast cancer	Treatment of patients with cancer who previously received trastuzumab and chemotherapy, separately or in combination. Patients should have either received therapy for disease, or developed disease recurrence during or within six months of completing therapy	overexpression ()	Antibody targeting receptors
Kadcyla (trastuzumab emtansine)	Breast cancer	treatment of patients with early breast cancer who have residual invasive disease after taxane and trastuzumab-based treatment	overexpression ()	Antibody targeting receptors
Kisqali (ribociclib)	breast cancer	Combined with an aromatase inhibitor for the treatment of pre/perimenopausal or postmenopausal women with , cancer, as initial hormone based therapy	and	CDK4/6 inhibitor
Kisqali (ribociclib)	breast cancer	Combined with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women with , HER2-negative cancer, as initial hormone based therapy.	and	CDK4/6 inhibitor
Lenvima (lenvatinib)	Advanced endometrial cancer	Combined with pembrolizumab, for the treatment of patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient (), who have disease progression following prior and are not candidates for curative surgery or radiation	Tumor is not MSI-H/dMMR	Tyrosine kinase inhibitor
Mekinist (trametinib)	melanoma	As a single agent and in combination with dabrafenib for the treatment of unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	MEK inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Mekinist (trametinib)	Melanoma	Combined with Taflinar (dabrafenib) as treatment of patients with melanoma and involvement of lymph node(s), following complete resection	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	MEK inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Mektovi (binimetinib)	melanoma	Combined with Braftovi (encorafenib), for the treatment of patients with unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	MEK inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Perjeta (pertuzumab)	Breast cancer	Combined with Herceptin (trastuzumab) and docetaxel as treatment of patients with , locally advanced, inflammatory, or early breast cancer	overexpression ()	Antibody targeting receptors
Phesgo (pertuzumab, trastuzumab combined injection)	Breast cancer	Prior to surgery ( treatment) when the tumor is greater than 2 cm in diameter or node-positive or after surgery ( treatment) for early breast cancer that has a high likelihood of coming back	overexpression ()	Antibody targeting receptors
Piqray (alpelisib)	breast cancer	Combined with fulvestrant for the treatment of postmenopausal women, and men, with , advanced or breast cancer,	, , PIK3CA tumor mutation	PIK3 kinase inhibitor
Stivarga (regorafenib)	colorectal cancer	For cancer that has been previously treated with fluoropyrimidine-, oxaliplatin- and irinotecan-based chemotherapy, an antiVEGF therapy, and, if KRAS and NRAS mutation negative, an anti-EGFR therapy	No needed	Multi-target kinase inhibitor
Sutent (sunitinib malate)	Unresectable, locally advanced or pancreatic neuro-endocrine tumors (PNET)	For treatment of progressive, well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET)	No needed	Multi-target kinase inhibitor
Tafinlar (dabrafenib)	melanoma	As a single agent for the treatment of patients with unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
	melanoma	Combined with Mekinist (trametinib) for the treatment of patients with unresectable or melanoma	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
	Melanoma	Combined with Mekinist (trametinib) as treatment of patients with melanoma and involvement of lymph node(s), following complete resection	BRAF V600E or V600K tumor mutation	BRAF inhibitor (type of kinase inhibitor)
Tarceva (erlotinib)	pancreatic cancer	First-line therapy used in combination with gemcitabine	No required	EGFR inhibitor
Trodelvy (sacituzumab govitecan-hziy)	breast cancer	For breast cancer that progressed, recurred or did not respond to at least two previous lines of treatment	Triple-negative (, )	Targeted chemotherapy (chemo attached to antibody found in )
Tukysa (tucatinib)	breast cancer	Combined with trastuzumab and capecitabine for treatment of breast cancer including patients with brain metastases, who have received one or more prior anti-HER2-based regimens in the setting	overexpression ()	Anti-Her2 kinase inhibitor
Vectibix (panitumumab)	colorectal cancer	Combined with FOLFOX for first-line treatment	Negative for KRAS and NRAS tumor mutation	Kinase inhibitor
Vectibix (panitumumab)	colorectal cancer	As a single therapy following disease progression after prior treatment with fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan-containing chemotherapy	Negative for KRAS and NRAS tumor mutations	Kinase inhibitor
Verzenio (abemaciclib)	breast cancer	As a single agent for the treatment of , advanced or metastatic breast cancer with disease progression following endocrine therapy and prior chemotherapy in the setting.	and	CDK4/6 inhibitor
Vitrakvi (larotrectinib)	solid tumors	For treatment in solid tumors where surgical resection is likely to result in severe , and for which there are no satisfactory alternative treatments or the cancer progressed following treatment	NTRK fusion	Kinase inhibitor
Zaltrap (ziv-aflibercept)	colorectal cancer	Combined with FOLFIRI chemotherapy, is indicated for patients with colorectal cancer that is resistant to or has progressed following an oxaliplatin-containing chemotherapy.	No required	Blocks vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)

Last updated August 06, 2020