How Do Efflux Pumps Contribute to Cancer Drug Resistance?
Efflux pumps contribute to cancer drug resistance by actively exporting anticancer drugs out of cancer cells, thereby reducing the intracellular concentration of these drugs below their therapeutic levels. This leads to the failure of chemotherapy treatments. Key efflux pumps implicated in cancer drug resistance include P-glycoprotein (P-gp), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), and members of the multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRP) family.
