First of all, what is targeted therapy? The essence of malignant tumor is that a group of cells inside the human body have mutated and become uncontrolled to grow and proliferate. Therefore, it is inevitable to injure some special cells in the body, such as the rapidly growing oral mucosa cells, gastrointestinal tract mucosa cells and metabolically active scalp cells, etc. As a result, most patients have oral ulcers, diarrhea and hair loss after conventional chemotherapy. Targeted tumor therapy is to specifically combine anti-tumor drugs with mutated tumor cells and transport them inside the tumor tissues, so that the drug effects are limited to the specific tumor cells, tissues or organs as much as possible without affecting the structure and function of normal cells, tissues or organs. Tumor-targeted therapy is mainly a therapy that targets the receptors, key genes and regulatory molecules of tumor cells. The purpose of tumor targeted therapy is to block or close the key receptors in the process of tumor development or important kinases in the transduction process, thus blocking the pathological process of correcting the uncontrolled proliferation and growth of tumor cells. Compared with conventional treatments such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, tumor targeted therapy has stronger targeting and selectivity, which can better selectively kill tumor cells and reduce the damage to normal tissues. Figuratively speaking, the use of traditional chemotherapy drugs is like bombing the enemy with cannons, which is very powerful, but can only cover the general direction, and sometimes the enemy can be indistinguishable from us, which can injure our side by mistake. The latest targeted tumor therapy is like a precision-guided biological missile, which can hit the tumor cells more accurately and inhibit the division and proliferation of tumor cells, while affecting the normal cells relatively little. In the process of targeted tumor therapy, each targeted drug acts on an abnormal tumor target. However, not all tumors have the same abnormal target, for example, patients with the same breast cancer need to be treated with different targeted drugs if they have different targets after genetic testing. On the contrary, different types of tumors may have the same abnormal target, for example, the targeted drug Gleevec was originally developed to treat chronic granulocytic leukemia, but later it was found to have the same target in gastrointestinal mesenchymal cell tumor, and was also used to treat gastrointestinal mesenchymal cell tumor. This is similar to the principle of “treating the same disease differently and treating different diseases together” in Chinese medicine. What are the common tumor targeted therapy drugs in China? What kind of tumors are they used for? In 2001, Imatinib (trade name: Gleevec) became the first targeted therapy drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to its outstanding efficacy in the treatment of chronic granulocytic leukemia, and was later found to have similar targets in gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors and was approved for the treatment of gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors. Gefitinib (trade name: Gefitinib) has been approved for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal cell tumors. Gefitinib (trade name: ERSA) was the first tyrosine kinase inhibitor to be approved by the FDA, primarily for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Most clinical use has confirmed that patients with Eastern, female, non-smoking and adenocarcinoma patients treated with gefitinib have the best results and are significantly more effective than Western, male and non-adenocarcinoma patients who smoke. Erlotinib (trade name: Troche) is another tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is also used to treat non-small cell lung cancer as well as advanced pancreatic cancer. Trastuzumab (trade name: Herceptin) is used to treat breast cancer. Doctors have clinically found that about 1/4 of patients with breast cancer overexpress the Her-2 gene. These patients have more malignant tumors, are prone to metastasis and recurrence and are resistant to conventional chemotherapy drugs, and have a shorter survival time after the disease. Herceptin is able to bind to Her-2-regulated tumor cell surface proteins and enter the nucleus through endocytosis, thereby suppressing tumor cell proliferation and stabilizing it. Rituximab (trade name: Meroval) acts on the CD20 target of B lymphocytes in vivo and can be used to treat B-cell lymphoma. Cetuximab (trade name: Epitol) was approved for the treatment of colorectal cancer and head and neck tumors in 2004. Bevacizumab (trade name: Avastin) is the first drug against tumor neovascularization. Bevacizumab blocks the blood supply in the body, which is important for tumor growth, so that the tumor cannot spread in the body. It is currently used mainly to treat colorectal cancer. Vascular endothelial inhibitor (trade name: Endo) is a recombinant human vascular endothelial inhibitor injection developed and produced in China, which is a new class of drug with independent intellectual property rights. It is used clinically for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Sorafenib (trade name: Doxorubicin) is a newly developed multi-targeted anti-tumor drug. It has dual anti-tumor effects: on the one hand, it directly inhibits tumor growth by inhibiting signaling pathways, and on the other hand, it indirectly inhibits tumor cell growth by blocking the formation of tumor neovascularization and reducing the nutrient intake of tumor tissues, and is currently mainly used for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. Targeted drugs have less toxic side effects and higher safety compared with traditional chemotherapy drugs, and are more easily accepted by patients. Therefore, targeted therapy is more suitable for patients with metastatic and recurrent mid- to late-stage tumors, elderly people, and some people with poor physical condition who are not suitable for chemotherapy or unwilling to receive chemotherapy. On the other hand, the adverse effects of long-term use of targeted drugs still cannot be ignored. It goes without saying that modulation is bound to interfere with normal function. For example, rituximab inhibits B lymphocytes, and long-term application will inevitably lead to low B lymphocytes and even affect the humoral immune function in the body; gefitinib is prone to wound healing difficulties after long-term application; erlotinib can occur as a prolonged and difficult to heal rash; trastuzumab can lead to cardiotoxicity after long-term application, etc. Targeted drugs have just been marketed, and there is not much experience in clinical application, and some of its long-term toxic side effects are under close observation and discovery by medical experts. Therefore, targeted drugs must be used under the close guidance of a doctor, including the treatment of toxic side effects after use, and a doctor’s professional opinion should be sought. Most of the targeted drugs only block the key link of tumor cell growth and proliferation to keep the tumor in a stable control state. Therefore, targeted drugs can generally be combined with various therapies to improve the treatment effect and patients’ quality of life with comprehensive treatment. In the new century, the introduction of a new anti-cancer therapy “targeted therapy” makes it possible for tumor patients to “live with tumor”.