Current trends and future prospects of drug repositioning in gastrointestinal oncology

Front Pharmacol. 2024 Jan 4:14:1329244. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1329244. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers comprise a significant number of cancer cases worldwide and contribute to a high percentage of cancer-related deaths. To improve survival rates of GI cancer patients, it is important to find and implement more effective therapeutic strategies with better prognoses and fewer side effects. The development of new drugs can be a lengthy and expensive process, often involving clinical trials that may fail in the early stages. One strategy to address these challenges is drug repurposing (DR). Drug repurposing is a developmental strategy that involves using existing drugs approved for other diseases and leveraging their safety and pharmacological data to explore their potential use in treating different diseases. In this paper, we outline the existing therapeutic strategies and challenges associated with GI cancers and explore DR as a promising alternative approach. We have presented an extensive review of different DR methodologies, research efforts and examples of repurposed drugs within various GI cancer types, such as colorectal, pancreatic and liver cancers. Our aim is to provide a comprehensive overview of employing the DR approach in GI cancers to inform future research endeavors and clinical trials in this field.

Keywords: colorectal cacner; drug repurposing; gastrointestinal cancers; liver cancer; pancreatic cancer; therapeutic strategies.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that no financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by grants from Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Royan Institute in Tehran and AIRC-Associazione Italiana Ricerca sul Cancro IG 2020 ID 24405 (AR).