Managing drug resistance in cancer: Role of cancer informatics

Abstract

Understanding and managing cancer drug resistance is the main goal of the modern oncology programs worldwide. One of the major factors contributing to drug resistance in cancer cells is the acquired mutations in drug targets. Advances in sequencing technologies and high-throughput screening assays have generated huge information related to pharmaco-profiling of anticancer drugs and revealed the mutational spectrum of different cancers. Systematic meta-analysis of this complex data is very essential to make useful conclusions in order to manage cancer drug resistance. Bioinformatics can play a significant role to interpret this complex data into useful conclusions. In this chapter, the use of bioinformatics platforms, particularly CancerDR, in understanding the cancer drug resistance is described.