Acquired drug resistance in cancer is one of the most common reasons for the poor prognosis and survival outcomes. Drug resistance is also responsible for disease recurrence. A variety of factors such as genetic and/or epigenetic alterations, drug target alterations, suppression of apoptosis, upregulated drug efflux, and various other cellular and molecular mechanisms contribute to drug resistance. Emerging evidence dictates the key role of tumor microenvironment and cancer stem cells in drug resistance and the main reason for the relapse of cancers and their incurability. Heterogeneity among patients (individual’s genetic differences) and tumors as well as the versatility of cancer to circumvent therapies also make drug resistance more challenging to deal with. Advances in multi-omics technologies, computational approaches, and the development of targeted therapies offer new strategies to tackle the problem of drug resistance. Further advances in cancer immunotherapy, the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors or targeted small molecules, and the repurposing of non-oncology drugs, have broadened the landscape of current drug research.Although a design of new chemotherapy agents is growing quickly, effective chemotherapy agents have not been discovered against the advanced stage of cancer, particularly invasion and metastasis. With this Research Topic, we aim to shed light on lines of investigation that show great promise, in particular, a focus on novel approaches that have recently been uncovered in the field, ranging from fundamental genetics to genomic engineering, to omics techniques, to artificial intelligence & machine learning to reveal the molecular basis of drug resistance in different cancers so as to guide clinicians design and develop therapeutic strategies to enhance therapeutic drug sensitivity and overcome resistance. Articles outlining innovative strategies and openly discussing the shortcomings of current methodologies with appropriate solutions are required. Our proposed edition would have a collection of research & review articles with a focus on analyzing different sorts of patients’ disease multi-omics data, integrating & developing predictive models, and deriving testable hypotheses for enlightening the scientific community about the molecular basis of drug resistance in different cancers.We would be interested in manuscripts falling into one of the below-mentioned categories:• Identification of new genetic, epigenetic, and other molecular factors responsible for drug resistance• Role of cancer stem cells in drug resistance • Role of non-coding RNAs in drug resistance • Applications of different omics technologies in unraveling the molecular basis of therapeutic drug resistance• Applications of computational biology, computer-aided drug design, structural biology, and bioinformatics approaches in drug design, development, and repurposing • Pros and cons of drug repositioning in cancer therapy• Opinion/perspective on cancer microenvironment challenges and possible solutions
Acquired drug resistance in cancer is one of the most common reasons for the poor prognosis and survival outcomes. Drug resistance is also responsible for disease recurrence. A variety of factors such as genetic and/or epigenetic alterations, drug target alterations, suppression of apoptosis, upregulated drug efflux, and various other cellular and molecular mechanisms contribute to drug resistance. Emerging evidence dictates the key role of tumor microenvironment and cancer stem cells in drug resistance and the main reason for the relapse of cancers and their incurability. Heterogeneity among patients (individual’s genetic differences) and tumors as well as the versatility of cancer to circumvent therapies also make drug resistance more challenging to deal with. Advances in multi-omics technologies, computational approaches, and the development of targeted therapies offer new strategies to tackle the problem of drug resistance. Further advances in cancer immunotherapy, the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors or targeted small molecules, and the repurposing of non-oncology drugs, have broadened the landscape of current drug research.Although a design of new chemotherapy agents is growing quickly, effective chemotherapy agents have not been discovered against the advanced stage of cancer, particularly invasion and metastasis. With this Research Topic, we aim to shed light on lines of investigation that show great promise, in particular, a focus on novel approaches that have recently been uncovered in the field, ranging from fundamental genetics to genomic engineering, to omics techniques, to artificial intelligence & machine learning to reveal the molecular basis of drug resistance in different cancers so as to guide clinicians design and develop therapeutic strategies to enhance therapeutic drug sensitivity and overcome resistance. Articles outlining innovative strategies and openly discussing the shortcomings of current methodologies with appropriate solutions are required. Our proposed edition would have a collection of research & review articles with a focus on analyzing different sorts of patients’ disease multi-omics data, integrating & developing predictive models, and deriving testable hypotheses for enlightening the scientific community about the molecular basis of drug resistance in different cancers.We would be interested in manuscripts falling into one of the below-mentioned categories:• Identification of new genetic, epigenetic, and other molecular factors responsible for drug resistance• Role of cancer stem cells in drug resistance • Role of non-coding RNAs in drug resistance • Applications of different omics technologies in unraveling the molecular basis of therapeutic drug resistance• Applications of computational biology, computer-aided drug design, structural biology, and bioinformatics approaches in drug design, development, and repurposing • Pros and cons of drug repositioning in cancer therapy• Opinion/perspective on cancer microenvironment challenges and possible solutions