Copper(I)–phosphine complexes: a promising approach in the search for antitumor agents

The search for antitumoral metallodrugs is a field in full development. The strategic design and synthesis of novel copper-based antitumor chemotherapeutic agents could have a great impact on development of both science and society, as cancer is still an important public health problem worldwide. This chapter covers the literature published so far on copper(I) complexes containing different classes of phosphines as the main ligands, and their potential as anticancer agents. Initially, we go through a brief review of the historical use of copper in medicine and basic properties of this metal in the human body, continuing with a description of general aspects of cancer and, finally, we emphasize the metal-based drugs containing copper(I)–phosphine binding as promising metallodrugs for the treatment of this disease.