CRISPR/Cas9 technology in oncology: mechanisms, applications, and future perspectives
The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) technology is a cutting-edge genome editing tool based on the adaptive immune mechanism of prokaryotes. This system, which operates through three key stages‒adaptation, expression, and interference‒offers high precision and efficiency in genetic modification. This article explores the mechanisms of CRISPR/Cas action and its applications in hematologic malignancies, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, and lung cancer. Genome editing has demonstrated significant effectiveness in suppressing tumor growth, enhancing cellular sensitivity to therapy, and developing personalized treatment approaches. CRISPR/Cas enhances the efficacy of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell Therapy (CAR-T) and helps overcome tumor cell resistance to treatment. The technology is also actively utilized in genetic screening to identify gene functions and discover new therapeutic targets. However, several challenges remain, including off-target effects, immune responses, and difficulties in delivering CRISPR components to target cells. This article discusses promising strategies to overcome these limitations, such as the development of novel Cas protein variants, improved delivery methods, and epigenetic approaches. CRISPR/Cas represents one of the most promising tools in molecular biology, providing the ability to precisely investigate gene functions and to develop new experimental strategies for therapeutic intervention. The potential of this technology is defined by its flexibility and applicability across a wide range of tasks‒including target validation, disease modeling, and the generation of advanced cellular products. However, its full integration into clinical practice requires further studies aimed at improving safety, reducing the frequency of unintended effects, and developing reliable delivery systems.