title: DNA repair pathways as targets for cancer therapy.
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.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology & Biology, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, off Roosevelt Drive, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7DQ, UK. thomas.helleday@rob.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Helleday
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petermann
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hodgson
authors.forename: Ricky A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes; D006801:Humans; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D008954:Models, Biological; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D045643:DNA Repair Enzymes