1. Historical Perspective and Current Trends in Anticancer Drug Development.
- Author
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Gach-Janczak, Katarzyna, Drogosz-Stachowicz, Joanna, Janecka, Anna, Wtorek, Karol, and Mirowski, Marek
- Subjects
PROTEIN kinase inhibitors ,ANTINEOPLASTIC agents ,CHEMICAL reagents ,CELL proliferation ,APOPTOSIS ,CANCER chemotherapy ,MOLECULAR structure ,DRUG development ,ALKYLATING agents ,PHARMACODYNAMICS - Abstract
Simple Summary: Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Among several therapeutic options available for patients, chemotherapy remains the most often used treatment strategy. Anticancer drugs known today are either substances isolated from plants and their derivatives or completely synthetic compounds. Some of them were discovered by accident, others as a result of long-term research. In this review, we present a brief history of the development of the main groups of anticancer drugs, focusing especially on their mode of action. This article also addresses the major side effects and limitations of currently available anticancer drugs and future perspectives in this area. Cancer is considered one of the leading causes of death in the 21st century. The intensive search for new anticancer drugs has been actively pursued by chemists and pharmacologists for decades, focusing either on the isolation of compounds with cytotoxic properties from plants or on screening thousands of synthetic molecules. Compounds that could potentially become candidates for new anticancer drugs must have the ability to inhibit proliferation and/or induce apoptosis in cancer cells without causing too much damage to normal cells. Some anticancer compounds were discovered by accident, others as a result of long-term research. In this review, we have presented a brief history of the development of the most important groups of anticancer drugs, pointing to the fact that they all have many side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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