Table 4 Safety and delivery challenges of CRISPR-based cancer therapy
Challenge | Current Approaches/Strategies | Limitations | Future Directions | Ethical and Regulatory Considerations | Description | Novelty | Advantages | Disadvantages | Limitations/Challenges | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Off-Target Effects | Targeted Genome Editing | - Can be difficult to achieve high specificity | - Development of improved delivery methods and monitoring techniques | - Need for clear guidelines and oversight | CRISPR can cause unintended changes to the genome outside the target region, which can lead to adverse effects | CRISPR-mediated genome editing is a highly precise and targeted approach to gene therapy | - Minimizes damage to healthy cells | - Possibility of unintended changes to the genome | Specificity needs to be improved to avoid off-target effects | |
Delivery to Tumor Site | Use of Viral Vectors | - Lack of specificity, difficulty targeting tumor cells | - Development of targeted delivery systems | - Need to minimize risk to healthy tissues | Viral vectors are commonly used to deliver CRISPR-based therapies, but can be difficult to target to specific tumor cells | Targeted delivery of CRISPR-based therapies can minimize damage to healthy tissues | - Can be used to target specific tumor cells | - Can cause immune reactions and toxicity | Targeting specificity needs to be improved to avoid damage to healthy tissues | |
Safety | Monitoring Off-Target Effects | - Limited sensitivity and accuracy of current monitoring techniques | - Development of more sensitive and accurate monitoring techniques | - Need to ensure patient safety and minimize potential harm | Monitoring of off-target effects is essential to ensure the safety of CRISPR-based therapies | Improved monitoring techniques can provide more accurate information about the effects of CRISPR editing on the genome | - Can help to detect unintended changes to the genome | - Current techniques have limited sensitivity and accuracy | More research is needed to improve monitoring techniques | |
Immune Reactions | Use of Non-Immunogenic CRISPR Systems | - Limited availability of non-immunogenic CRISPR systems | - Development of non-immunogenic CRISPR systems | - Need to minimize the risk of immune reactions and toxicity | CRISPR-based therapies can trigger immune responses, which can lead to adverse effects | Non-immunogenic CRISPR systems are being developed to minimize the risk of immune reactions | Non-immunogenic CRISPR systems can reduce the risk of immune reactions and toxicity | - Non-immunogenic CRISPR systems are not widely available | More research is needed to develop non-immunogenic CRISPR systems |