Medicinal Chemistry

Drug Targets for Cancer Treatment: An Overview

Abstract

Shashank Kumar, Mohammad Kaleem Ahmad, Mohammad Waseem and Abhay K Pandey

Cancer is one of the major causes of the death worldwide.Malignant cells display metabolic changes, when compared to normal cells, because of both genetic and epigenetic alterations. Number of drugs being used for the cancer treatment follows different mechanisms of action. Therapeutic strategies include targeting of drugs at specific genes or proteins/enzymes found in cancer cells or the internal tissueenvironment which contributes to growth and survival of these cells. Targeted therapy is often used along with chemotherapy and other treatments to restrict the growth and spread of cancer cells. During the past few decades, targeted therapy has emerged as a promising approach for the development of selective anticancer agents. There is a class of targeted therapy drugs called angiogenesis inhibitors which focus on blocking the development of new blood vesselsin tumor tissues. In addition, anticancer drugs also include DNA intercalators, DNA synthesis inhibitors, transcription regulators, enzyme inhibitors etc. This review focuses on major classes of anticancer drug targets and their therapeutic importance.