Title:Promising Targets in Anti-cancer Drug Development: Recent Updates
Volume: 24
Issue: 42
Author(s): Bhupinder Kumar, Sandeep Singh, Ira Skvortsova*Vinod Kumar*
Affiliation:
- Department of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck,Austria
- Laboratory of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, Centre for Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, Punjab,India
Keywords:
Anticancer, tubulin inhibitor, kinases, cancer stem cells, multi-drug resistance, multi-targeting agents.
Abstract: Cancer is a multifactorial disease and its genesis and progression are extremely
complex. The biggest problem in the anticancer drug development is acquiring of multidrug
resistance and relapse. Classical chemotherapeutics directly target the DNA of the cell, while
the contemporary anticancer drugs involve molecular-targeted therapy such as targeting the
proteins possessing abnormal expression inside the cancer cells. Conventional strategies for
the complete eradication of the cancer cells proved ineffective. Targeted chemotherapy was
successful in certain malignancies however, the effectiveness has often been limited by drug
resistance and side effects on normal tissues and cells. Since last few years, many promising
drug targets have been identified for the effective treatment of cancer. The current review article
describes some of these promising anticancer targets that include kinases, tubulin, cancer
stem cells, monoclonal antibodies and vascular targeting agents. In addition, promising drug
candidates under various phases of clinical trials are also described. Multi-acting drugs that
simultaneously target different cancer cell signaling pathways may facilitate the process of
effective anti-cancer drug development.
