Combination Therapies

For a growing number of diseases, combination therapies are being employed, due in part to their superior efficacy compared to monotherapies. These therapies utilize different mechanisms of action for each agent employed, thereby acting on multiple molecular targets or intervening at two or more sites in disease-specific pathways (to minimize drug resistance) to more effectively prevent disease progression and perhaps reduce toxicity (e.g. combination drugs used at lower doses). There are a number of publications that cite the benefits of combination therapy over monontherapy, but this type of treatment often comes with increased toxicity.[1,2]  While combining multiple agents is often beneficial for disease progression, the adverse effects may be unexpected and difficult to predict.