Application of the CRISPR/Cas9 System to Drug Resistance in Breast Cancer.

Abstract

Clinical evidence indicates that drug resistance is a great obstacle in breast cancer therapy. It renders the disease uncontrollable and causes high mortality. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the development of drug resistance, but the underlying cause is usually a shift in the genetic composition of tumor cells. It is increasingly feasible to engineer the genome with the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/associated (Cas)9 technology recently developed, which might be advantageous in overcoming drug resistance. This article discusses how the CRISPR/Cas9 system might revert resistance gene mutations and identify potential resistance targets in drug‐resistant breast cancer. In addition, the challenges that impede the clinical applicability of this technology and highlight the CRISPR/Cas9 systems are presented. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is poised to play an important role in preventing drug resistance in breast cancer therapy and will become an essential tool for personalized medicine.