The invention provides methods for decreasing one or more symptoms of cancer in a patient requiring the steps of determining the activation or inactivation of the MK2 signaling pathway and, based on these determinations, administering either a MK2 inhibitor or a combination of a MK2 inhibitor and a chemotherapeutic agent, or a chemotherapeutic agent to the patient. The invention further provides methods for identifying a cancer patient that may selectively benefit from the administration of a chemotherapeutic agent, or the administration of a MK2 inhibitor or the combination of a MK2 inhibitor and a chemotherapeutic agent, requiring the steps of determining the activation or inactivation of the MK2 signaling pathway. The invention additionally provides methods and kits for diagnosing a chemotherapy-sensitive or chemotherapy-resistant cancer in a subject that require the step of (or reagents for) determining the activation or inactivation of the MK2 signaling pathway. The invention also provides methods of treating a cancer patient diagnosed as having a chemotherapy-sensitive or a chemotherapy-resistant cancer.
