The power and the promise of synthetic lethality for clinical application in cancer treatment

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy 2024-03, Vol.172, p.116288-116288, Article 116288
• Main Authors: Liu, Qian-Wen, Yang, Zhi-Wen, Tang, Qing-Hai, Wang, Wen-Er, Chu, Da-Sheng, Ji, Jin-Feng, Fan, Qi-Yu, Jiang, Hong, Yang, Qin-Xin, Zhang, Hui, Liu, Xin-Yun, Xu, Xiao-Sheng, Wang, Xiao-Feng, Liu, Ji-Bin, Fu, Da, Tao, Kun, Yu, Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cancer; Clinical application; DNA repair; Drug; Synthetic lethality
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2024.116288

Synthetic lethality is a phenomenon wherein the simultaneous deficiency of two or more genes results in cell death, while the deficiency of any individual gene does not lead to cell death. In recent years, synthetic lethality has emerged as a significant topic in the field of targeted cancer therapy, with certain drugs based on this concept exhibiting promising outcomes in clinical trials. Nevertheless, the presence of tumor heterogeneity and the intricate DNA repair mechanisms pose challenges to the effective implementation of synthetic lethality. This review aims to explore the concepts, development, and ethical quandaries surrounding synthetic lethality. Additionally, it will provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical application and underlying mechanism of synthetic lethality. [Display omitted] . •Synthetic lethality has emerged as a significant topic in the field of targeted cancer therapy.•Certain drugs based on synthetic lethality exhibiting promising outcomes in clinical trials.•The presence of tumor heterogeneity poses challenges to the effective implementation of synthetic lethality.•This review aims to explore the concepts, development, and ethical quandaries surrounding synthetic lethality.•We provide an in-depth analysis of the clinical application and underlying mechanism of synthetic lethality.