Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment
Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide and it is estimated that in 2040 more than 29 million people will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. The most prevalent type of cancer in women, worldwide, is breast cancer, a type of cancer associated with a huge death rate. This high mortal...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/8/4280 |
| _version_ | 1797434546565677056 |
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| author | Rafaela Rodrigues Diana Duarte Nuno Vale |
| author_facet | Rafaela Rodrigues Diana Duarte Nuno Vale |
| author_sort | Rafaela Rodrigues |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide and it is estimated that in 2040 more than 29 million people will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. The most prevalent type of cancer in women, worldwide, is breast cancer, a type of cancer associated with a huge death rate. This high mortality is mainly a consequence of the development of drug resistance, which is one of the major challenges to overcome in breast cancer treatment. As a result, research has been focused on finding novel therapeutical weapons, specifically ones that allow for a personalized treatment, based on patients’ characteristics. Although the scientific community has been concerned about guaranteeing the quality of life of cancer patients, researchers are also aware of the increasing costs related to cancer treatment, and efforts have been made to find alternatives to the development of new drugs. The development of new drugs presents some disadvantages as it is a multistep process that is time- and money-consuming, involving clinical trials that commonly fail in the initial phases. A strategy to overcome these disadvantages is drug repurposing. In this review, we focused on describing potential repurposed drugs in the therapy of breast cancer, considering their pharmacogenomic profile, to assess the relationship between patients’ genetic variations and their response to a certain therapy. This review supports the need for the development of further fundamental studies in this area, in order to investigate and expand the knowledge of the currently used and novel potential drugs to treat breast cancer. Future clinical trials should focus on developing strategies to group cancer patients according to their clinical and biological similarities and to discover new potential targets, to enable cancer therapy to be more effective and personalized. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:33:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2d7dfcbb606e4d3e969a5c7f095b4dc8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:33:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-2d7dfcbb606e4d3e969a5c7f095b4dc82023-12-01T21:03:42ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672022-04-01238428010.3390/ijms23084280Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer TreatmentRafaela Rodrigues0Diana Duarte1Nuno Vale2OncoPharma Research Group, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, PortugalOncoPharma Research Group, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, PortugalOncoPharma Research Group, Center for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), Rua Dr. Plácido da Costa, 4200-450 Porto, PortugalCancer is among the leading causes of death worldwide and it is estimated that in 2040 more than 29 million people will be diagnosed with some type of cancer. The most prevalent type of cancer in women, worldwide, is breast cancer, a type of cancer associated with a huge death rate. This high mortality is mainly a consequence of the development of drug resistance, which is one of the major challenges to overcome in breast cancer treatment. As a result, research has been focused on finding novel therapeutical weapons, specifically ones that allow for a personalized treatment, based on patients’ characteristics. Although the scientific community has been concerned about guaranteeing the quality of life of cancer patients, researchers are also aware of the increasing costs related to cancer treatment, and efforts have been made to find alternatives to the development of new drugs. The development of new drugs presents some disadvantages as it is a multistep process that is time- and money-consuming, involving clinical trials that commonly fail in the initial phases. A strategy to overcome these disadvantages is drug repurposing. In this review, we focused on describing potential repurposed drugs in the therapy of breast cancer, considering their pharmacogenomic profile, to assess the relationship between patients’ genetic variations and their response to a certain therapy. This review supports the need for the development of further fundamental studies in this area, in order to investigate and expand the knowledge of the currently used and novel potential drugs to treat breast cancer. Future clinical trials should focus on developing strategies to group cancer patients according to their clinical and biological similarities and to discover new potential targets, to enable cancer therapy to be more effective and personalized.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/8/4280repurposed drugsgenetic influenceanticancer drugscancer drug resistancepharmacologytherapeutic strategies |
| spellingShingle | Rafaela Rodrigues Diana Duarte Nuno Vale Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment International Journal of Molecular Sciences repurposed drugs genetic influence anticancer drugs cancer drug resistance pharmacology therapeutic strategies |
| title | Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment |
| title_full | Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment |
| title_fullStr | Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment |
| title_short | Drug Repurposing in Cancer Therapy: Influence of Patient’s Genetic Background in Breast Cancer Treatment |
| title_sort | drug repurposing in cancer therapy influence of patient s genetic background in breast cancer treatment |
| topic | repurposed drugs genetic influence anticancer drugs cancer drug resistance pharmacology therapeutic strategies |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/8/4280 |
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