Targeting the key players of DNA Repair Pathways as Cancer Therapeutics

Abstract

The DNA Damage Response (DDR) is essentially a complicated network of cellular pathways involving a vast array of signalling proteins that help in maintaining the genome integrity of the cell and its turmoil is one of the hallmarks of cancer. Longestablished treatment of cancer with radiation therapies or genotoxic chemotherapies has exploited the defects in the DNA damage response for therapeutic application. The recent strategies for targeted therapy aim on inhibiting the DNA damage response in cancer which offers a greater potential by tailoring treatment to patients with tumours lacking specific DDR functions. This out-manoeuvres one of the key limitations of many DNA-damaging therapies, which is their inability in selectively targeting cancer cells that in turn leads to toxic effects on healthy cells and disastrous effects for patients. This review highlights the different concepts of DNA damage and repair mechanisms that exist in a living cell. In addition, it discusses the small molecule inhibitors of DDR pathway that seem to be promising cancer therapeutics.