Drug Repurposing in Cancer Treatment: The Emerging Role of Pharmacogenomics

Drug repurposing - identifying new uses for existing medications- has emerged as a transformative approach in oncology, offering a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to traditional drug development. Unlike de novo discovery, repurposing builds upon known safety profiles, expediting clinical translation. This strategy is especially valuable in cancer treatment, a field marked by high unmet medical needs and complex disease heterogeneity. The integration of pharmacogenomics, which examines how genetic variations affect drug response, further enhances this paradigm by enabling more personalized therapies. Through genomic profiling, clinicians can better predict drug efficacy and safety, while researchers can uncover new oncological indications for well-established drugs. This convergence sets the stage for a precision oncology model that aligns existing therapeutics with individual patient genotypes.

This Research Topic aims to investigate the evolving synergy between drug repurposing and pharmacogenomics in the era of precision oncology. Although substantial progress has been made in targeted therapies, conventional treatment paradigms often fail to address the intratumor heterogeneity and dynamic evolution of cancer. Pharmacogenomics provides a powerful lens for understanding interindividual variability in drug response, using genomic variants such as SNPs, CNVs, and somatic mutations to inform therapeutic decisions. When combined with drug repurposing strategies, this approach allows for the rational redirection of approved drugs toward genetically defined cancer subtypes. Recent advances—such as network-based drug-disease mapping, deep learning for multi-omics integration, and single-cell sequencing—have enhanced our ability to decode complex tumor biology and predict drug efficacy in specific molecular contexts. Functional precision medicine platforms, including patient-derived organoids and CRISPR screens, now offer experimental validation of pharmacogenomic hypotheses and repurposing candidates. Together, these tools support a paradigm shift from empirical drug use to predictive, genotype-guided interventions. This Research Topic will explore how leveraging existing pharmacological assets through the lens of genomics can rapidly expand therapeutic options and personalize cancer care at scale.

We welcome submissions exploring the intersection of drug repurposing and pharmacogenomics in the context of precision oncology, with a focus on emerging genomic technologies, data-driven discovery methods, and translational applications. Areas to be covered in this Research Topic may include, but are not limited to:

• Identification of genomic or transcriptomic biomarkers guiding drug repurposing
• AI- and network-based methods for predicting drug-disease interactions
• Integration of multi-omics (genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, epigenomic) data to inform drug efficacy
• Functional validation of repurposing candidates using patient-derived models (e.g., organoids, xenografts, CRISPR screens)
• Case studies of pharmacogenomic-guided repurposing in clinical or preclinical oncology
• Single-cell and spatial genomics applications in stratifying repurposing response

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review

Keywords: Drug repurposing, pharmacogenomic profiling, precision oncology, cancer genomics, multi-omics integration, genomic biomarkers, single-cell sequencing, patient-derived organoids, CRISPR screening, network-based discovery, tumor heterogeneity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.