Modern Strategies in Cancer Study: Drug Repositioning in Colorectal Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in males and the second in females, with 1.8 million new cases and almost 861,000 deaths in 2018 [1]. CRC is often diagnosed at advanced stages, when the probability of development of distal or local recurrence due to chemotherapy resistance is more elevated [2,3]. The common protocol of CRC treatment consists in a primary surgical resection of the tumor, followed by radiotherapy and/or adjuvant chemotherapy. Since the 1950s, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) remains the mainstay of chemotherapy [4,5]. In the recent years other drugs have been developed and used in combination with 5-FU such as oxaliplatin, irinotecan and capecitabine [6]. The use of new monoclonal antibodies such as Bevacizumab and Cetuximab has also allowed great advances in therapies [7]. However, almost half of patients with advanced CRC are resistant to chemotherapies based on 5-FU [8]. To counter this situation new strategies are being implemented; these include improved early diagnosis (down-staging), discovery of reliable predictive biomarkers and development of novel drugs/drug combinations.