CRISPR and its role in advancing personalized cancer treatments

By Siobhan Mayer

By Sangharsh Lohakare from Unsplash

The technology known as CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) has become a revolutionary tool in molecular biology and genetics, transforming personalized medicine, especially in the treatment of cancer. CRISPR has the potential to revolutionize oncological treatment by precisely altering DNA, which would enable cancer medicines to be more effectively tailored to the needs of each patient.

Understanding CRISPR Technology

Bacteria have a natural defense system called CRISPR that helps them fight off viral infections. This technique has been used by researchers to develop a potent genome editing tool. Two essential elements make up the technology: a guide RNA (gRNA) that guides the Cas9 nuclease to a particular DNA sequence so that it can cause a double-strand break. Then, particular modifications to the genetic material can be introduced by using the cell's inherent repair mechanisms. Because of its capacity to eliminate genes, introduce new genetic material, or fix mutations that cause disease, CRISPR is a vital tool for cancer research and treatment.

Advancements in Personalized Cancer Treatment

Targeting the genetic abnormalities that cause particular tumors is the main way that CRISPR technology is used in individualized cancer treatments. Each patient's cancer is different and frequently has unique genetic changes that affect how the tumor behaves and reacts to treatment. Personalized medicine aims to customize cancer treatments according to the unique genetic composition of each patient's cancer, in contrast to traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation, which frequently use a one-size-fits-all approach.

Because CRISPR makes it possible to identify and target particular mutations, it improves tailored cancer treatments. To learn more about the roles of various genes and identify which mutations are essential for the cancer's survival and growth, scientists can, for example, utilize CRISPR to modify the genomes of cancer cells. With this information, doctors can create focused treatments that better target cancer cells while preserving healthy tissue, minimizing side effects and enhancing patient outcomes.

Immunotherapy and CRISPR

Immunotherapy is one of the most promising fields of cancer treatment where CRISPR is having a big influence. T-cells and other immune cells can be altered using CRISPR to improve their capacity to identify and destroy cancer cells. For instance, CRISPR can be used to optimize CAR-T cell therapy, which entails modifying a patient's T-cells to express chimeric antigen receptors that target antigens specific to cancer. Researchers can improve T-cells' capacity to fight cancers with particular traits by carefully altering their DNA.

Additionally, CRISPR may be able to produce "universal" CAR-T cells, which would not require individual personalization and could be utilized by a variety of patients. This could greatly advance the field of individualized cancer treatment by expediting the course of treatment and increasing accessibility to this type of therapy.

Ethical Considerations and Future Directions

Although CRISPR holds great promise for customized cancer therapies, it is imperative to address the ethical issues related to its application. The necessity for thorough testing and validation is underscored by worries about off-target effects, in which CRISPR inadvertently modifies unwanted regions of the genome. With more recent variations, such CRISPR-associated base editors, promising to provide more precise editing capabilities, researchers are actively attempting to increase the accuracy of CRISPR technology.

The future of personalized cancer treatment using CRISPR looks promising, with ongoing research focused on integrating CRISPR into clinical practice. Clinical trials are exploring the safety and efficacy of CRISPR applications in treating various cancer types, and early results are encouraging, showing potential for cancer remission in patients whose tumors have been engineered to be more susceptible to treatment.

Conclusion

CRISPR technology represents a significant advancement in the field of personalized cancer treatment. ​By enabling precise genetic modifications, it has the potential to tailor therapies based on the individual characteristics of a patient's cancer, resulting in more effective and less toxic treatment options.​ As researchers continue to refine this technology and address ethical considerations, CRISPR may indeed play a pivotal role in the future of oncology, paving the way for more successful and individualized cancer treatments.

References:

Selvakumar, S. C., Preethi, K. A., Ross, K., Tusubira, D., Khan, M. W. A., Mani, P., Rao, T. N., & Sekar, D. (2022). CRISPR/Cas9 and next generation sequencing in the personalized treatment of Cancer. Molecular Cancer, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-022-01565-1

Jiang, J., Chen, Y., Zhang, L., Jin, Q., Wang, L., Xu, S., Chen, K., Li, L., Zeng, T., Fan, X., Liu, T., Li, J., Wang, J., Han, C., Gao, F., Yang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2022). i-CRISPR: a personalized cancer therapy strategy through cutting cancer-specific mutations. Molecular Cancer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12943-022-01612-x

Stefanoudakis, D., Kathuria-Prakash, N., Sun, A. W., Abel, M., Drolen, C. E., Ashbaugh, C., Zhang, S., Hui, G., Tabatabaei, Y. A., Zektser, Y., Lopez, L. P., Pantuck, A., & Drakaki, A. (2023). The Potential Revolution of Cancer Treatment with CRISPR Technology. Cancers. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15061813

How CRISPR Is Changing Cancer Research and Treatment. (2020). cancer.gov. https://www.cancer.gov/news-events/cancer-currents-blog/2020/crispr-cancer-research-treatment