How Can Understanding DNA Replication Errors Aid in Cancer Treatment?
Understanding the mechanisms behind DNA replication errors can help in developing targeted therapies. For instance, PARP inhibitors are used to treat cancers in patients with BRCA mutations by exploiting the concept of synthetic lethality. These inhibitors block the repair of single-strand breaks, leading to double-strand breaks in cancer cells that are already deficient in homologous recombination repair due to BRCA mutations.
