Colorectal Cancer: Current and Future Therapeutic Approaches and Related Technologies Addressing Multidrug Strategies Against Multiple Level Resistance Mechanisms

Overview

Journal Int J Mol Sci

Publisher MDPI

Specialties Biochemistry
Chemistry
Molecular Biology

Date 2025 Feb 13

PMID 39941081

Authors

Marianna Puzzo

Marzia De Santo

Catia Morelli

Antonella Leggio

Stefania Catalano

Luigi Pasqua

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis. The mutation profile and related involved pathways of CRC have been, in broad terms, analyzed. The main current therapeutic approaches have been comprehensively reviewed here, and future possible therapeu-tic options and related technologies have been perspectively presented. The complex scenario represented by the multiple-level resistance mechanism in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway, including mutations in KRAS, NRAS, and BRAF V600E, is discussed. Examples of engineered therapeutic approaches from the literature along with a drug combination tested in clinical trials are discussed. The encouraging results observed with the latter combination (the BEACON clinical trial), totally free from chemotherapy, prompted the authors to imagine a future possible nanotechnology-assisted therapeutic approach for bypassing multiple-level resistance mechanisms, hopefully allowing, in principle, a complete biological cancer remission.

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