Sinapsos Podcast | Oncology

E35   |  18 min   |   Latest   |  Publication Link

• Podcast based on: Tanikella, P.; Nenad, W.; Courtine, C.; Dai, Y.; Deng, Q.; Zou, B.; Osazuwa-Peters, N.; Schrank, T.P.; Wu, D. GARD: Genomic Data-Based Drug Repurposing in Head and Neck Cancer with Large Language Model Validation. Cancers 2026, 18, 757. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers18050757
  Type: Article  |  Publication date: 26 February 2026
  
  
• Summary: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is among the most prevalent and challenging cancers worldwide. Developing new drugs is expensive and time consuming, so this study explored a faster, cost-effective approach utilizing existing medications with established safety profiles: drug repurposing. We developed the GARDpipeline (Genomic Alteration-based Repurposing for Drugs), which utilizes large-scale genomic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to identify key genomic changes in HNC. These genes are expanded through protein–protein interaction networks to capture related pathways and then validated using evidence from thousands of PubMed articles extracted by large language model (LLM) tools. Finally, validated genes are matched with drugs using the DrugBank database. This approach uncovered both known cancer drugs and promising new candidates. These included targeted therapies such as Fostamatinib, Nintedanib, Brigatinib, Regorafenib, and Lenvatinib, as well as emerging compounds like Artenimol, Quercetin, and Acetylsalicylic Acid (Aspirin). Through a combination of genomic analysis, network expansion, and literature validation, the GARD pipeline offers a powerful way to accelerate personalized cancer treatments while reducing cost and development time.
  
  
• Keywords: head and neck cancer; drug repurposing; genomics

License and disclaimer:
Original article © 2026 by the authors. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This episode is an AI-generated audio adaptation of the article: the script and the voices are synthetic, changes were made, and the adaptation is not endorsed by the authors, the journal, or the publisher. It may contain errors or omissions, so consult the original publication before relying on any detail. It is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. The creators accept no liability for any use of this content.