GAZI MEDICAL JOURNAL, cilt.33, sa.3, ss.312-321, 2022 (ESCI)
DNA repair pathways maintain genomic integrity and stability when DNA damages take place in cells by endogenous or exogenous sources. Any functional problem or deficiency in DNA repair pathways is associated with the initiation and development of cancer. Cancer is important health concerns and characterized by growing uncontrollably and spread to other tissues. It is the second leading cause of death and every year more than 150 000 people are died and more than 250 000 new cases occur in Turkey. It is required improving treatment strategies. Currently, traditional cancer therapy is performed with chemo- and/or radiotherapy as well as operation, the removal of cancer cells. The major challenge in traditional cancer treatment is that treatment cannot differentiate cancerous cells from healthy cells and kill both of cells including hair cells that are normal cells. Furthermore, many side effects that are difficult to tolerate occur during or after administration of cancer treatment. The problem is that traditional cancer treatment is not targeted therapy, so, it does not target tissue which is located cancer lesions. Last more than 30 years, studies have conducted on DNA repair pathways for cancer treatment. There are many DNA repair proteins, which have major functions, especially on major DNA repair pathways such as Base Excision Repair, Nucleotide Excision Repair. Among them, the first study was performed on Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) and Lynparza was approved as cancer drug and increase the survival rate and provide low side effects. Studies associated with the effects of PARP inhibitors and with the other DNA repair pathways on cancer keep continuing. Targeted therapy with low side effects and high efficacy provides huge advantageous when resistance occurs against the traditional cancer treatments. However, similar resistance problem also is valid for DNA repair inhibitors. All these improvements and experience will lead to discover new cancer treatments. In our review, we have given brief information on DNA repair pathways and their use in cancer treatment.