CRISPR-Cas9 in Precision Oncology: Unraveling Resistance Mechanisms and Redefining Molecular Targeted Cancer Therapy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62382/jcbt.v3i2.109Keywords:
CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, Molecular targeted cancer therapy, Drug resistance, Functional genomics, Precision oncology, Gene editingAbstract
Cancer therapeutics have evolved from standard cytotoxic chemotherapy to specialized molecular targeted therapies, which scientists now develop using purposeful design methods. The treatments function by targeting molecular changes that lead to cancer development through epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF) pathway mutations. Targeted therapies have achieved outstanding results, but drug resistance development creates a major obstacle that restricts their treatment success in medical practice. Scientists now understand genetic networks that control treatment outcomes and drug resistance because of major developments in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9) genome-editing technology. This review provides a full examination of molecular targeted cancer therapy development and resistance mechanisms, and CRISPR-Cas9 applications for discovering new cancer cell weaknesses. It explains CRISPR-based functional genomic screens, which identify genes and pathways responsible for drug resistance, to develop new treatment approaches and explore the ethical aspects and technical obstacles, and future development possibilities for combining artificial intelligence with omics data and CRISPR precision oncology. The scientific breakthroughs create a new era for personalized cancer treatment, which unites genetic discoveries with medical practice. Beyond identifying oncogenic drivers, CRISPR-based functional genomics expands the therapeutic paradigm toward systematic interrogation of resistance circuits and synthetic lethal interactions. This shift redefines molecular targeted therapy from static inhibition of single driver mutations to dynamic targeting of adaptive survival networks that sustain tumor progression under therapeutic pressure. The medical field is experiencing a new period of individualized cancer treatment through these technological developments, which connect genetic discoveries to their clinical applications.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Muhammad Osama, Ayesha Ghafoor, Toheed Fatima, Muhammad Shaharyar, Khadija Javed, Zainab Bibi, Bisma, Farwa Shafique, Maryam Jameel
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