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CRISPR-Cas9 in cancer therapeutics
1Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, India.
Abstract:
Cancer is a disease mainly caused by an accumulation of mutations in cells. Consequently, correcting those genetic aberrations could be a potential treatment strategy. The traditional route for cancer drug development is tedious, laborious, and time-consuming. Due to target identification, drug formulation, pre-clinical testing, clinical testing, and regulatory hurdles, on average, it takes 10-15 years for a cancer drug to go from target discovery to a marketable oncology drug. The advent of CRISPR-Cas9 technology has greatly expedited this procedure. CRISPR-Cas9 has single-handedly accelerated target identification and pre-clinical testing. Furthermore, CRISPR-Cas9 has also been used in ex vivo editing of T-cells to specifically target tumor cells. In this chapter, we will discuss the various ways in which CRISPR-Cas9 has been used for the betterment of the cancer drug development process. Additionally, we will discuss various ways in which it is currently being used as therapy and the drawbacks which restrict the use of this groundbreaking technology as direct therapy.
Insights
CRISPR-Cas9 technology accelerates cancer drug development by speeding up target identification and preclinical testing. It
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Genetics
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Cancer arises from accumulated cellular mutations.
- Traditional cancer drug development is lengthy (10-15 years).
- Genetic aberration correction is a potential cancer treatment strategy.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss CRISPR-Cas9 applications in cancer drug development.
- To explore current CRISPR-Cas9 cancer therapies.
- To identify limitations of CRISPR-Cas9 as direct therapy.
Main Methods:
- CRISPR-Cas9 for accelerated target identification.
- CRISPR-Cas9 for expedited preclinical testing.
- Ex vivo T-cell editing using CRISPR-Cas9 for tumor targeting.
Main Results:
- CRISPR-Cas9 significantly speeds up early-stage cancer drug development.
- CRISPR-Cas9 enables ex vivo T-cell therapies targeting tumors.
- CRISPR-Cas9 shows promise in various cancer research applications.
Conclusions:
- CRISPR-Cas9 revolutionizes cancer drug discovery timelines.
- CRISPR-Cas9 is a powerful tool for developing novel cancer treatments.
- Barriers to direct CRISPR-Cas9 cancer therapy require further investigation.
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