Evidence mapPaperPMID 42196226Full record

ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2026

Two Worlds, One Battle: How Bacteria and Malignancies Converge on Drug Resistance.

Christos Papaneophytou

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Christos PapaneophytouDepartment of Life Sciences, School of Life and Health Sciences, University of Nicosia, Nicosia 2417, Cyprus.ORCID 0000-0002-4045-8839

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Drug resistance represents one of the most critical challenges in modern medicine, undermining the efficacy of therapies across both bacterial infections and cancer. Although these conditions arise in fundamentally distinct biological systems, they are governed by shared evolutionary pressures that drive the emergence and selection of resistant populations. This narrative review provides an integrative, cross-disciplinary perspective on drug resistance, focusing on bacteria and cancer and emphasizing the shared evolutionary and molecular mechanisms underlying treatment failure in both domains. Key resistance strategies include efflux-mediated drug export, target modification, enzymatic drug inactivation, metabolic reprogramming, epigenetic and transcriptional plasticity, and protection conferred by specialized microenvironments. These processes are further reinforced by phenotypic heterogeneity, including bacterial persister cells and cancer stem-like cells, which contribute to recurrence and multidrug resistance. Collectively, these parallels define drug resistance as a convergent evolutionary phenomenon driven by adaptability under selective pressure. Recognizing these shared mechanisms reveals important translational opportunities for therapeutic intervention. Strategies such as combination therapy, drug repurposing, nanotechnology-enabled delivery systems, and host-directed approaches offer promising avenues to prevent, delay, or overcome resistance. By integrating insights from microbiology and oncology, this review proposes a unified framework for resistance biology and highlights the potential of cross-disciplinary strategies to improve treatment durability and clinical outcomes.

Indexed as

BacteriaBacterial InfectionsDrug Resistance, BacterialDrug Resistance, NeoplasmNeoplasmsAnimalsAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntineoplastic AgentsHumansMetabolic ReprogrammingAnti-Bacterial AgentsAntineoplastic Agentsantimicrobial resistancecancer drug resistancecombination therapydrug repurposingdrug resistanceefflux pumpsmetabolic reprogrammingpersister cells

Identifiers

PMID42196226
PMCPMC13207020

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.