Current status of synthetic lethality effects in cancer research / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Most carcinogenic mutations, including those causing a loss of function, are not directly "druggable" with traditional small-molecule inhibitors, such as targeted drugs. Thus, despite our growing cognition of carcinogenic mutations that drive tumor progres-sion, there are still problems regarding targeted therapy for tumors. The application of synthetic lethality effects is expected to be-come a new breakthrough in tumor-targeted therapy. Therefore, identifying a combination of genetic mutations that generate synthet-ic lethality effects plays important roles in targeted therapy for tumors. This article reviews the origin and development of synthetic le-thality effects, the forms of interaction, related screening techniques, clinical treatment strategies, and significance and challenges.