A review on CRISPR-Cas system based applications in Oncology

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death around the world. The ability to proliferate at a rapid rate, metastasize, and form heterogeneous tumors due to mutagenic occurrences renders cancer as one of the most difficult-to-treat diseases in the world. Owing to its high accuracy and efficiency, the gene editing tool Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) systems and CRISPR-associated (Cas) enzymes have shown immense potential in the treatment of genome-based diseases, especially cancer. The ability to deliberately activate or repress genes, allows CRISPR-Cas systems to discover novel targets for new potential anti-cancer drugs. In this review, the mechanism of different classes of CRISPR-Cas systems are summarized. Several other applications including diagnostic and therapeutic applications of CRISPR-Cas systems in the field of oncology are also addressed in this review.