Receptor-type tyrosine kinase inhibitors for the treatment of many human diseases

Since the discovery of several oncogenes encoding growth factor and its specific receptor in the early 1980s, small molecule inhibitors as well as monoclonal antibodies for receptor-type tyrosine kinases have been successfully developed for cancer therapy. Such growth factor signaling is perturbed not only in cancer but also in many human diseases. This article reviews the perspective of tyrosine kinase inhibitors on the clinical use for cancer as well as non-malignant diseases, such as vascular disorders, fibrosis and viral infections involving platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) signaling.