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Polypharmacology in Precision Oncology: Current Applications and Future Prospects
Albert A Antolin1, Paul Workman, Jordi Mestres
1Division of Cancer Therapeutics, The Institute of Cancer Research, London, United Kingdom.
Drug polypharmacology offers new ways to fight cancer by targeting multiple pathways simultaneously. This approach can overcome drug resistance and enable drug repurposing for better precision oncology outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Pharmacology
- Chemical Biology
Background:
- Cancer research increasingly grapples with tumor heterogeneity, adaptation, evolution, and drug resistance.
- Systems-based pharmacology reveals complex drug-proteome interactions.
- Precision oncology requires advanced strategies to combat treatment challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the progress and potential of drug polypharmacology in biomarker-driven precision oncology.
- To explore polypharmacology's role in drug repurposing and overcoming drug resistance.
- To assess methods for uncovering and exploiting polypharmacology in cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Review of current literature on drug polypharmacology in oncology.
- Assessment of computational and experimental approaches for polypharmacology discovery.
- Analysis of challenges in drug design and development for polypharmacology.
Main Results:
- Polypharmacology presents opportunities for drug repurposing via off-target effects.
- Simultaneous blockade of multiple targets/pathways can prevent or overcome drug resistance.
- Significant challenges exist in exploiting known or desired polypharmacology.
Conclusions:
- A deeper understanding of polypharmacology, efficacy, and safety is crucial for cancer treatment.
- Exploiting polypharmacology can help overcome cancer drug resistance.
- Drug polypharmacology holds significant potential for improving patient outcomes in precision oncology.
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