Department of General Medicine, Sher-I-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, 190001, India.
Khalsa College of Pharmacy, G.T. Road, Amritsar, Punjab, 143001, India.
Eur J Med Res. 2023 Sep 14;28(1):345. doi: 10.1186/s40001-023-01275-4.
Cancer poses a significant global health challenge, with predictions of increasing prevalence in the coming years due to limited prevention, late diagnosis, and inadequate success with current therapies. In addition, the high cost of new anti-cancer drugs creates barriers in meeting the medical needs of cancer patients, especially in developing countries. The lengthy and costly process of developing novel drugs further hinders drug discovery and clinical implementation. Therefore, there has been a growing interest in repurposing approved drugs for other diseases to address the urgent need for effective cancer treatments. The aim of this comprehensive review is to provide an overview of the potential of approved non-oncology drugs as therapeutic options for cancer treatment. These drugs come from various chemotherapeutic classes, including antimalarials, antibiotics, antivirals, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antifungals, and have demonstrated significant antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic, immunomodulatory, and antimetastatic properties. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify relevant studies on the repurposing of approved non-oncology drugs for cancer therapy. Various electronic databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, were searched using appropriate keywords. Studies focusing on the therapeutic potential, mechanisms of action, efficacy, and clinical prospects of repurposed drugs in cancer treatment were included in the analysis. The review highlights the promising outcomes of repurposing approved non-oncology drugs for cancer therapy. Drugs belonging to different therapeutic classes have demonstrated notable antitumor effects, including inhibiting cell proliferation, promoting apoptosis, modulating the immune response, and suppressing metastasis. These findings suggest the potential of these repurposed drugs as effective therapeutic approaches in cancer treatment. Repurposing approved non-oncology drugs provides a promising strategy for addressing the urgent need for effective and accessible cancer treatments. The diverse classes of repurposed drugs, with their demonstrated antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic, immunomodulatory, and antimetastatic properties, offer new avenues for cancer therapy. Further research and clinical trials are warranted to explore the full potential of these repurposed drugs and optimize their use in treating various cancer types. Repurposing approved drugs can significantly expedite the process of identifying effective treatments and improve patient outcomes in a cost-effective manner.
癌症是一个重大的全球健康挑战，由于预防措施有限、诊断较晚以及当前疗法的成功率不高，预计未来几年癌症的发病率将会上升。此外，新抗癌药物的高昂成本在满足癌症患者的医疗需求方面造成了障碍，尤其是在发展中国家。新型药物研发的漫长而昂贵的过程进一步阻碍了药物发现和临床应用。因此，人们越来越关注将已批准用于其他疾病的药物重新用于癌症治疗，以满足对有效癌症治疗方法的迫切需求。本综述的目的是提供已批准的非肿瘤药物作为癌症治疗治疗选择的潜力概述。这些药物来自各种化疗药物类别，包括抗疟药、抗生素、抗病毒药物、抗炎药和抗真菌药，已证明具有显著的抗增殖、促凋亡、免疫调节和抗转移特性。对已批准的非肿瘤药物重新用于癌症治疗的相关研究进行了系统的文献综述。使用适当的关键词在各种电子数据库（如 PubMed、Scopus 和 Google Scholar）中进行了搜索。分析中包括了聚焦于重新定位药物在癌症治疗中的治疗潜力、作用机制、疗效和临床前景的研究。该综述强调了重新定位已批准的非肿瘤药物用于癌症治疗的有希望的结果。属于不同治疗类别的药物已显示出显著的抗肿瘤作用，包括抑制细胞增殖、促进凋亡、调节免疫反应和抑制转移。这些发现表明这些重新定位药物作为癌症治疗有效治疗方法的潜力。重新定位已批准的非肿瘤药物为满足对有效和可及的癌症治疗方法的迫切需求提供了一个很有前途的策略。具有已证明的抗增殖、促凋亡、免疫调节和抗转移特性的重新定位药物的各种类别为癌症治疗提供了新的途径。需要进一步的研究和临床试验来探索这些重新定位药物的全部潜力并优化它们在治疗各种癌症类型中的应用。重新定位已批准的药物可以显著加快确定有效治疗方法的过程，并以具有成本效益的方式改善患者的治疗效果。
