Key Strategies in Precision Medicine for Overcoming Resistance in Lung Cancer

Abstract

The burden of lung cancer in Nigeria represents a significant clinical problem due to the high mortality rate. Added to this is the lack of a comprehensive cancer treatment strategy in Nigeria, resulting in underdiagnosis and poor access to treatment. Furthermore, the challenges of chemoresistance represent a major obstacle to lung cancer therapy in Nigeria. These challenges highlight the need for precision medicine that targets specific genetic mutations and can potentially overcome resistance. This review article aimed to provide a comprehensive compilation of studies on the resistance mechanisms in the different types of therapy and current key strategies for overcoming resistance in lung cancer. Herein, we selected significant studies from the Web of Science and PubMed databases by conducting a systematic search for articles published between 2018 and 2024 with the keywords “Precision Medicine”, “Targeted Therapy”, “Overcoming Resistance”, “ Lung cancer”, “Treatment” and any analogies and combinations of the keywords. In summary, resistance mechanisms in lung cancer therapy, such as primary and acquired resistance, and tumor microenvironment changes, were examined and promising strategies to overcome them include; modulating immune checkpoints, enhancing T cell priming, conditioning the gut microbiota, stimulating the immune system, targeting the tumor microenvironment, and developing combination therapies, were provided and discussed.