In silico approaches for drug repurposing in oncology: Protocol for a scoping review of existing evidence

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Science
• Oncology
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Drug repurposing optimizes existing medications, reducing costs in oncology drug discovery.
• Computational methods aid in predicting drug-target associations for repurposing.
• The efficiency of drug repurposing in oncology requires further validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review the literature on in silico strategies for drug repurposing in oncology.
• To understand how computational methods are implemented in identifying novel cancer therapeutics from existing drugs.
• To evaluate the current landscape and potential of in silico drug repurposing in cancer research.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review protocol based on Arksey and O'Malley framework and JBI recommendations.
• Literature search across PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, plus grey literature.
• Inclusion of peer-reviewed articles on in silico drug repurposing in oncology (2003-2021).

Main Results:

• Data charting and analysis aligned with predefined review questions.
• Findings will be synthesized to describe the implementation and outcomes of in silico strategies.
• The review will identify trends and gaps in the application of computational methods for drug repurposing in cancer.

Conclusions:

• This scoping review will provide a comprehensive overview of in silico drug repurposing in oncology.
• The findings will inform future research directions and highlight the potential of computational approaches in cancer therapy development.
• The study aims to clarify the effectiveness and practical application of these strategies in the field.