Selective Targeting of Cancer Cells using Personalized Nanomedicine.
Synthetic lethality raised as an exciting new avenue to kill cancer cells by identifying potential druggable targets. Synthetic lethality define as a lethal interaction between two separate viable mutations when present together within a cell results in cell death, while mutation is only in either of the genes alone, cell remains viable. Therefore, synthetic lethality is a new pragmatic strategy for the selective killing of cancer cells by exploring and targeting the synthetic lethal interactors of cancer cell’s specific vulnerabilities like chromosomal instability (CIN) phenotype.
The sequencing of first human genome in 2000 gave a new track to understand the differences arises among individuals in response to harmful agent’s exposure and in treatment outcome called as Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics.3,4 Personalized medicine is the tailored treatment based on genetic constitution of a person responsible for individual variably in drug response and treatment outcome. Nanotechnology offered the advantage of targeted drug delivery, reducing drug dose and dosage frequency and reducing systemic drug exposure thus limiting side effects and overcoming drug resistance.
The major breakthrough in the development of personalized medicine is the application of nano-approach to synthetic lethality to target mutated cancer cells with no harm to normal cells. Poor bioavailability, toxicity issues, emergence of drug resistant cases, and the presence of multiple survival pathways are the multi-factors that are leading to introduction of nanotechnology for synthetic lethal application and will lead to success as a targeted therapies.
Toxicol Forensic Med Open J. 2016; 1(1): e12-e13. doi: 10.17140/TFMOJ-1-e005
