Abstract
DNA repair pathways can enable tumour cells to survive DNA damage that is induced by chemotherapeutic treatments; therefore, inhibitors of specific DNA repair pathways might prove efficacious when used in combination with DNA-damaging chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition, alterations in DNA repair pathways that arise during tumour development can make some cancer cells reliant on a reduced set of DNA repair pathways for survival. There is evidence that drugs that inhibit one of these pathways in such tumours could prove useful as single-agent therapies, with the potential advantage that this approach could be selective for tumour cells and have fewer side effects.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 193-204 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Nature Reviews Cancer |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2008 |