Tumor hypoxia: The major culprit behind cisplatin resistance in cancer patients.

Nalini Devarajan, Reji Manjunathan, Senthil Kumar Ganesan

Critical reviews in oncology/hematology 2021 Jun

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Cisplatin is the most commonly used first-line drug for cancer treatment. However, many patients develop resistance to cisplatin therapy which ultimately results in therapy failure and increased mortality. A growing body of evidence shows that the hypoxic microenvironment is the prime factor underlying tumor insensitivity to cisplatin treatment. Since tumors in the majority of cancer patients are under hypoxic stress (low oxygen supply), it becomes necessary to understand the pathobiology behind hypoxia-induced cisplatin resistance in cancer cells. Here, we discuss the molecular events that render hypoxic tumors insensitive to cisplatin therapy. Furthermore, various drugs and tumor oxygenation techniques have been developed to circumvent cisplatin resistance in hypoxic tumors. However, their pharmaceutical applications are limited due to failures in clinical investigations and a lack of preclinical studies in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. This review addresses these challenges and provides new directions for the strategic deployment of cisplatin sensitizers in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Citation

Nalini Devarajan, Reji Manjunathan, Senthil Kumar Ganesan. Tumor hypoxia: The major culprit behind cisplatin resistance in cancer patients. Critical reviews in oncology/hematology. 2021 Jun;162:103327