Zactima
Meaning of Zactima: This research name for a targeted cancer therapy never reached approval for the disease it was originally studied to treat.
Definition of Zactima
Zactima was a research and development name used for vandetanib during clinical trials studying its use against lung cancer and other solid tumors. Vandetanib is classified as a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, a type of targeted therapy that blocks specific enzymes cancer cells rely on to grow and divide.
Vandetanib also acts as an antiangiogenesis agent, interfering with a tumor's ability to form the new blood vessels it needs for continued growth and spread. Combining these two mechanisms distinguishes it from traditional chemotherapy drugs, which act more broadly on any rapidly dividing cell rather than on a specific molecular target.
Studied under the name Zactima, vandetanib did not proceed to approval for treating lung cancer, though it later found approved use, under a different brand name, for treating a different type of cancer altogether.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Vandetanib, studied under the name Zactima, was evaluated in clinical trials for advanced lung cancer.
Good to know
Zactima refers specifically to vandetanib's earlier development name in lung cancer research, a use that did not lead to approval for that cancer type, whereas vandetanib later found approved use in a different cancer.