Repurposing non-oncology small-molecule drugs to improve cancer therapy: Current situation and future directions.

Journal: Acta pharmaceutica Sinica. B
Published Date: Sep 10, 2021

Abstract

Drug repurposing or repositioning has been well-known to refer to the therapeutic applications of a drug for another indication other than it was originally approved for. Repurposing non-oncology small-molecule drugs has been increasingly becoming an attractive approach to improve cancer therapy, with potentially lower overall costs and shorter timelines. Several non-oncology drugs approved by FDA have been recently reported to treat different types of human cancers, with the aid of some new emerging technologies, such as omics sequencing and artificial intelligence to overcome the bottleneck of drug repurposing. Therefore, in this review, we focus on summarizing the therapeutic potential of non-oncology drugs, including cardiovascular drugs, microbiological drugs, small-molecule antibiotics, anti-viral drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, anti-neurodegenerative drugs, antipsychotic drugs, antidepressants, and other drugs in human cancers. We also discuss their novel potential targets and relevant signaling pathways of these old non-oncology drugs in cancer therapies. Taken together, these inspiring findings will shed new light on repurposing more non-oncology small-molecule drugs with their intricate molecular mechanisms for future cancer drug discovery.

Authors

  • Leilei Fu
    Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Biomimetic Synthesis of Natural Drugs, School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China.
  • Wenke Jin
    Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Biomimetic Synthesis of Natural Drugs, School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China.
  • Jiahui Zhang
    Department of Critical Care Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Complex Severe and Rare Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • Lingjuan Zhu
    State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
  • Jia Lu
    College of Veterinary Medicine, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, China.
  • Yongqi Zhen
    Sichuan Engineering Research Center for Biomimetic Synthesis of Natural Drugs, School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu 610031, China.
  • Lan Zhang
    Mental Health Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
  • Liang Ouyang
    State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
  • Bo Liu
    Wuhan United Imaging Healthcare Surgical Technology Co., Ltd., Wuhan, China.
  • Haiyang Yu
    State Key Laboratory of Component-based Chinese Medicine, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 301617, China.

Keywords

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