Exploring the Role of CRISPR in the Treatment of Bronchogenic Carcinoma

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas technology has emerged as a revolutionary tool in the field of genetic editing, enhancing the treatment efficacy for several genetic diseases, including cancer. Its impact and efficiency surpasses those of the previous gene editing methods such as Zinc Finger Nucleases (ZFNs) and Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALENs), making it an invaluable tool in modern medicine and research. This review primarily focuses on the applications of CRISPR in treating lung cancer. CRISPR has been used in screens, by identifying therapeutic targets such as oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Additionally, CRISPR has also been utilized to induce synthetic lethality in cryo-shocked tumor cells, wherein advancements in the cell carrier systems improved the delivery efficiency of the CRISPR-Cas system. Furthermore, CRISPR’s feasibility in treating lung cancer by T-cell modification was explored, and recent clinical trials yielded encouraging results, with great potential for future developments that can result in T-cell modification becoming a promising and safe treatment option for bronchogenic carcinomas. This review focuses on discussing the role of CRISPR in treating lung cancer, and additionally showcases certain limitations that hinder CRISPR’s complete domination in this field, while also presenting solutions and strategies used to minimize these limitations.