Open Access

REVIEW

A review of the literature on the use of CRISPR/Cas9 gene therapy to treat hepatocellular carcinoma

ELHAM AMJAD¹, RAFFAELE PEZZANI^2,3,*, BABAK SOKOUTI^1,*

1 Biotechnology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, 5165665813, Iran
2 Phytotherapy Lab, Endocrinology Unit, Dipartimento di Medicina (DIMED), University of Padova, Via Ospedale 105, Padova, 35128, Italy
3 Associazione Italiana Per La Ricerca Oncologica Di Base, Associazione Italiana Per La Ricerca Oncologica Di Base, Padova, 35128, Italy

* Corresponding Authors: RAFFAELE PEZZANI. Email: ; BABAK SOKOUTI. Email: ,

Oncology Research 2024, 32(3), 439-461. https://doi.org/10.32604/or.2023.044473

Received 31 July 2023; Accepted 24 November 2023; Issue published 06 February 2024

Abstract

Noncoding RNAs instruct the Cas9 nuclease to site-specifically cleave DNA in the CRISPR/Cas9 system. Despite the high incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the patient’s outcome is poor. As a result of the emergence of therapeutic resistance in HCC patients, clinicians have faced difficulties in treating such tumor. In addition, CRISPR/Cas9 screens were used to identify genes that improve the clinical response of HCC patients. It is the objective of this article to summarize the current understanding of the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for the treatment of cancer, with a particular emphasis on HCC as part of the current state of knowledge. Thus, in order to locate recent developments in oncology research, we examined both the Scopus database and the PubMed database. The ability to selectively interfere with gene expression in combinatorial CRISPR/Cas9 screening can lead to the discovery of new effective HCC treatment regimens by combining clinically approved drugs. Drug resistance can be overcome with the help of the CRISPR/Cas9 system. HCC signature genes and resistance to treatment have been uncovered by genome-scale CRISPR activation screening, although this method is not without limitations. It has been extensively examined whether CRISPR can be used as a tool for disease research and gene therapy. CRISPR and its applications to tumor research, particularly in HCC, are examined in this study through a review of the literature.

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Keywords

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