Regulatory players of DNA damage repair mechanisms: Role in Cancer Chemoresistance

[Display omitted] •DNA damaging agents during chemotherapy act against cancer.•Cancer cells possess inherent biological features to overcome DNA damages.•Repaired cancer cells often become more resistance to chemotherapy.•Understanding chemoresistance mechanisms in detail will improve the efficacy of cancer therapeutics. DNA damaging agents are most common in chemotherapeutic molecules that act against cancer. However, cancer cells possess inherent biological features to overcome DNA damages by activating various distinct repair mechanisms and pathways. Importantly, various oncogenes, cancer stem cells (CSCs), hypoxic environment, transcription factors and bystander signaling that are activated in the cancer cells influence DNA repair, thereby effectively repairing the DNA damage. Repaired cancer cells often become more resistance to further therapy and results in disease recurrence. In this review, we summarize how the various signaling pathways in cancer cells regulates DNA repair and induce chemoresistance.