Second generation cancer drugs refer to therapies that have been developed to improve upon the efficacy, specificity, and safety profiles of earlier treatments. They often target similar pathways or molecules as their predecessors but are engineered to be more potent, selective, or to minimize adverse effects. Examples include second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as dasatinib and nilotinib, which are used to treat chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) by targeting the BCR-ABL fusion protein more effectively than first-generation imatinib.
