Anti-Cancer Drugs
Anti-cancer drugs are medications used to treat cancer by inhibiting the growth and spread of cancer cells. They work through various mechanisms, such as targeting specific molecules involved in cancer cell growth or interfering with the cell division process. These drugs can be administered through different routes, including oral, intravenous, or topical application, and are often used in combination with other cancer treatments.
8 Key excerpts on "Anti-Cancer Drugs"
eBook - ePubRecent Advances in Cancer Diagnostics and Therapy
A Nanobased Approach
- Anjana Pandey, Saumya Srivastava(Authors)
- 2022(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...6 Mechanisms of Different Anticancer Drugs DOI: 10.1201/9781003201946-6 6.1 Introduction Anticancer drugs are classified not only based on their mechanism of action but also based on their anticancerous selectivity towards different types of cancer. These anticancer drugs are classified according to chemical structure, their mechanism of action, and cytotoxic effects associated with the cell cycle are well studied (Calman et al., 1980 ; Sun et al., 2017 ; Advani et al., 2020 ; Behl et al., 2020 ; Mohammed and Hanoon, 2020, 2021a, 2021b ; Arora et al., 2021 ; Liang et al., 2021 ; Mameri et al., 2021 ; Mohammadi et al., 2021 ; Palmieri and Macpherson, 2021). Anticancer therapies aim to check the growth of cancer and its spread. Anticancer therapies are divided into different ways. Traditionally, it is based on their procedure type like surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted, or cell therapy (Alam et al., 2018 ; Sarah and David, 2018 ; Bo Chiang et al., 2021 ; Cristóvão et al., 2021 ; dehghan banadaki et al., 2021 ; Erol et al., 2021 ; J. Wang et al., 2021 ; Kalita et al., 2021 ; Kelbert et al., 2021 ; Kim and Choi, 2021 ; Pranzini et al., 2021 ; Rahimi and Solimannejad, 2021 ; Safaei and Shishehbore, 2021 ; Shen and Noguchi, 2021 ; Tian et al., 2021). However, these classifications or types can be unclear due to combination therapy, which has more interest. With the arrival of immune checkpoint therapy, it has been predicted that cancer can become a chronic rather than deadly disease soon. Immune therapies involve cell therapies such as CAR-T cells and are currently being employed in more than 3,000 phase 2 and 3 of clinical studies (FDA approved) in different cancer types like the combination therapies (ClinicalTrials.gov). All the cancer treatments are mainly divided based on the cancer properties they target and mechanism during targeting, either inhibitory or interfering (Agborbesong et al., 2020 ; B...
eBook - ePubThe Molecular Biology of Cancer
A Bridge from Bench to Bedside
- Stella Pelengaris, Michael Khan, Stella Pelengaris, Michael Khan(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...15 Cancer Chemistry: Designing New Drugs for Cancer Treatment Ana M. Pizarro and Peter J. Sadler University of Warwick, UK The efforts of those, who are placed in a position fitted for the purpose, should be unceasing for the search after such a medicine; for nothing can be more unphilosophical than to conclude that it does not exist, because it has not yet been found. Walter Hayle Walshe, The Nature and Treatment of Cancer Key Points The story of anticancer therapeutics begins during the First World War, when bone marrow suppression was observed in soldiers who had been killed by mustard gas. In 1942, a patient in the terminal stages of lymphosarcoma was successfully treated by the administration of a chemical, the nitrogen mustard tris(β-chloroethyl)amine. The discovery of methotrexate (an antimetabolite of folic acid) in the 1950s heralded the development of the antimetabolite class of anticancer agents. The more complete description of the molecular pathoetiology of cancers that has evolved in the last 20 years has identified multiple new potential targets for therapeutic intervention, as exemplified by the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib. The drug discovery pipeline consists of the following steps: Choosing a cancer-relevant “druggable” target; Finding a series of chemical entities or biomolecules (hits) that are able to modulate that target by screening in vitro ; Finding the lead agent of the series; Optimizing the lead candidate; and Developing the candidate for clinical. trials. Medicinal chemists have exploited a variety of sources to find leads, including: natural products (e.g. taxol), the application of pharmacological tools such as screening compound libraries in vitro (e.g. vatalanib) and in silico (e.g. HA14-1), established drugs (for “me betters,” such as carboplatin), competitor patents, publications, and even serendipity (e.g...
- Yearul Kabir, Yearul Kabir(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...It is difficult to recognize the neoplasm diagnosis in ancient texts just from the literary description. However, progress in understanding and treating tumors has been slow and centered on pathological anatomy development, starting in the 18th century. Cancer is one of the most impactful diseases of the 21st century. Cancer affects people of diverse social, ethnic, and economic factors. In recent years, the genetic, epigenetic, and pathophysiological mechanisms of cancer have been well described, but cancer is still the second-leading cause of death in developed countries, following heart disease (de Oliveira Junior et al., 2018). Cancer cells, to ensure their survival and proliferation, acquire some specific abilities compared to normal cells. During the onset of malignant tumors, they may present constitutively active proto-oncogenes, deactivating the expression of some tumor-suppressor genes. Tumor cells typically show replicative immortality mechanisms (Shay, 2016) and greater resistance to cell death mediated by the regulation of anti- and proapoptotic proteins (Hassan et al., 2014). Chemotherapy is one of the strategies available for tumor treatment. Chemotherapy utilizes compounds capable of preventing proliferative signaling pathways, blocking immortality mechanisms, and preventing angiogenesis, pushing cancer cells toward apoptosis (de Oliveira Junior et al., 2018). Anticancer products from nature Over the past decades, there has been rising interest in the use of bioactive components from natural sources as potential novel anticancer agents as well as the identification of chemical entities, molecular targets, and signaling pathways activated or inhibited by these natural products (Sak and Everaus, 2017). Natural compounds have historically been utilized in cancer treatment, especially in traditional Chinese or Indian Ayurveda medicine...
eBook - ePub- John E. Niederhuber, James O. Armitage, James H Doroshow, Michael B. Kastan, Joel E. Tepper(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Elsevier(Publisher)
...This allows for the stratification of patients into precise risk groups and—at least in some instances—for the implementation of personalized therapeutic regimens. 183 On the other hand, a great number of anticancer agents that specifically target alterations in cell death–regulating signaling pathways have been developed, and some of them have successfully entered clinical routines. At odds with conventional chemotherapeutics, which frequently kill tumor cells because of their elevated proliferative potential, targeted anticancer agents act on cancer cell–specific defects and therefore are generally associated with a reduced incidence and severity of side effects. 184 These agents include compounds that interrupt oncogene or nononcogene addiction as well as strategies that attempt to reconstitute the lost function of tumor suppressors. In most cases, these approaches lead to the apoptotic or necrotic demise of cancer cells, although in some cases the therapeutic benefit results from the activation of cellular senescence (an irreversible arrest in cell cycle progression). 185 Cell death mechanisms have also attracted attention for the development of strategies for chemosensitization and radiosensitization...
eBook - ePubScott-Brown's Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery
Volume 1: Basic Sciences, Endocrine Surgery, Rhinology
- John Watkinson, Ray Clarke, John C Watkinson, Ray W Clarke(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...CHAPTER 4 MECHANISMS OF ANTICANCER DRUGS Sarah Payne and David Miles Introduction Principles of chemotherapy Principles of tumour biology Classification of chemotherapeutic agents Chemotherapy in head and neck cancer Choice of chemotherapy in head and neck cancer Chemotherapy strategies Novel therapies for the future Immunotherapy Conclusion References SEARCH STRATEGY Data in this chapter may be updated by a PubMed search using the keywords: mechanisms of chemotherapy; principles of tumour biology, chemotherapy and head and neck cancer; EGFR inhibitors, EGFR monoclonal antibodies; VEGF inhibitors, immunotherapy and head and neck cancer. INTRODUCTION Anticancer drugs have been developed and used medically since the 1940s, following the observation that nitrogen mustard gas, a chemical warfare agent used in the Second World War, interfered with haematopoiesis. Since then there have been significant therapeutic advances in the development of anticancer drugs although a cure for all cancer types remains an elusive goal. Alongside trials using more traditional types of chemotherapy, there is also now significant interest in developing more target-directed drug therapies and novel therapies, including immunotherapy. PRINCIPLES OF CHEMOTHERAPY Cancer is defined as the uncontrolled growth of cells coupled with malignant behaviour: invasion and metastasis. It arises through a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors, causing genetic mutations in oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes. Chemotherapy aims to exploit the resulting differences in biological and proliferative characteristics between normal and cancer cells where most cytotoxic drugs preferentially affect dividing cells in tumours. PRINCIPLES OF TUMOUR BIOLOGY Cellular kinetics CELL CYCLE The cell cycle (Figure 4.1) is divided into a number of phases governed by an elaborate set of molecular switches. Normal non-dividing cells are in G0...
eBook - ePub- Walter H. Hsu, Walter H. Hsu(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...Chapter 17 Antineoplastic Drugs Leslie E. Fox I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CANCER CHEMOTHERAPY A. The goal of treatment with chemotherapy in veterinary medicine is to increase the length and quality of life of patients based on an accurate histologic diagnosis of the tumor and the clinical stage or extent of the neoplastic process. B. Chemotherapy is best used as treatment for systemic disease, palliation for metastatic, or nonresectable disease, large tumor size reduction, making them more amenable to surgery and/or radiation therapy called neoadjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant therapy after surgery and/or radiation therapy to slow metastasis or kill residual tumor cells, and to increase tumor cell sensitivity to the lethal effects of radiation therapy. C. The kinetics of chemotherapy drug-induced cell kill is first-order —a constant percentage (not a constant number) of cells is killed with each dose. Antineoplastic drugs are most effective when the tumor is small (microscopic) and is rapidly growing (high growth fraction). D. Because tumor cells undergo a high spontaneous mutation rate, up to 1 in every 10,000 tumor cells may have acquired mutations that can confer resistance at the time of diagnosis, even in the absence of previous exposure to chemotherapeutic agents. Thus, multimodality and multiagent therapy administered as early in the course of disease as is possible, is likely to be the most helpful. E. Drug resistance develops in neoplastic cells with mechanisms similar to those observed in antibiotic resistant bacteria. These include the following: 1. Decreased cell permeability or uptake, or increased efflux of drugs 2. Increased production of enzymes which degrade the drug 3. Increased capacity to repair or bypass the effects of the drug 4. Decreased binding of drug to receptors or target enzymes F. In general, multidrug protocols are more efficacious than single drug protocols...
eBook - ePub- David E. Thurston, Ilona Pysz(Authors)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- CRC Press(Publisher)
...Their antitumor activity is thought to arise from the fact that most tumor cells (particularly in hematological cancers) are faster growing and dividing compared to most healthy cells and so are more affected by cytotoxic and antimetabolic agents. Another factor is that, for DNA-interactive agents such as the nitrogen mustards, cancer cells may be more vulnerable to them compared with healthy cells due to a reduced ability to carry out DNA repair, most likely due to a growing number of DNA mutations. However, this relative lack of selectivity leads to significant toxicities in other fast-growing cells in the body, thus leading to severe side effects such as bone marrow suppression, GI tract disturbances, nausea, vomiting and hair loss. Therefore, since these early drugs were discovered, the evolution of drug discovery methodologies in the anticancer area has been based on the concept that unique drug targets need to be identified in tumor cells that are not present in healthy ones. Although it has taken over 60 years, this goal has started to be achieved with the discovery of agents such as the kinase inhibitors imatinib (Gleevec TM), vemurafenib (Zelboraf TM) and crizotinib (Xalkori TM) which can selectively kill chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), melanoma and lung tumor cells, respectively, with relatively low toxicity toward healthy cells because their molecular targets are present only in the tumor cells and not in healthy ones (i.e., a Precision Medicine approach – see Chapter 11). Through a greater understanding of genetics, the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and the development of advanced molecular biology technologies, tumor cells can now be characterized not just by how they look under a microscope (i.e., their morphology) but by the genetic alterations occurring in their genes at their various stages of development, and by the aberrant proteins they produce as a result...
eBook - ePub- Ronald Ross Watson, Victor R Preedy, Sherma Zibadi, Ronald Ross Watson, Victor R. Preedy, Sherma Zibadi(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
...Natural chemopreventive agents could reveal their beneficial potential at all stages of tumor formation. In recent years, a growing interest in the strategy of preventing cancers called chemoprevention has been observed. This term was first used by Michael Sporn in 1976. He defined chemoprevention as using natural, synthetic or biologic compounds to reverse, suppress or prevent the development of invasive cancer. 13 Chemopreventive agents were further classified by Wattenberg into two categories: “blocking agents” and “suppressing agents.” 14 Chemoprevention was divided into three strategies, i.e., primary: addressed mainly to high-risk group patients with predisposition to cancer to avoid the expansion of disease; secondary: involving treatment of precancerous lesions to inhibit their progression to cancer; and tertiary: for cancer-cured patients to prevent the development of second primary tumors. 15 Natural dietary compounds are attractive chemopreventive agents due to their relative lack of toxicity, prevalence, easy administration and low prices. Moreover, these constituents have more than one mechanism of action and could be selective for damaged and transformed cells. 16 Phenolic compounds constitute one of the major groups of secondary metabolites in plants and are widespread in foods and nutraceuticals. Chemically, phenolic compounds can be defined as substances bearing at least one aromatic ring with one or more hydroxyl groups. 17 These constituents are highly diverse and can be structurally classified into different groups such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes, and lignans. Flavonoids can be divided into six subclasses: flavonols, flavones, isoflavones, flavanones, anthocyanidins, and flavanols...
