Current Topics in Medicinal Chemistry - Volume 8, Issue 10, 2008

In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Cancer” and requested an allocation of 100 million dollars from the US Congress to find a cure. In spite of the vast research efforts since then, the American Cancer Society estimates that in the United States 565,650 people will die from cancer this year and 1,437,000 new cancers will be diagnosed. The picture worldwide is similarly gloomy with an estimated 7.6 million c Read More

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors constitute a novel and growing class of anticancer agents that function by altering intracellular patterns of histone acetylation, the so-called epigenetic “histone code,” thereby producing changes in cell cycle arrest, differentiation, and/or apoptosis in tumor cells. This overview describes the chemistry and preliminary characterization of recently disclosed molecules in three major class Read More

Heat shock protein (Hsp90) inhibitors are an increasingly interesting and important class of compounds where the first in class, natural product derived inhibitors such as 17-allylaminogeldanamycin (17-AAG), are entering late stage clinical development. Recently the emergence of synthetic, small molecule inhibitors has been described and both NVPAUY922 and BIIB021 have entered clinical development. The medicinal chem Read More

Aromatase is the enzyme responsible for the conversion of androgens to estrogens and represents the main source of local estrogens in post-menopausal breast cancer tissue. Nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors (NSAIs) are able to reduce growth-stimulatory effects of estrogens in hormone-dependent breast cancer, and third generation NSAIs are currently approved as first-line therapy for the treatment of postme Read More

Kinesin spindle protein (KSP), a mitotic kinesin responsible for bipolar spindle establishment and maintenance, is currently the target of intense research for the development of novel anticancer therapeutics. Several inhibitors of KSP have progressed into clinical trials and many others are in preclinical development. A majority of these inhibitors are ATP-uncompetitive and bind in an allosteric loop L5 binding pocket, but recent Read More

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a hematological stem cell disorder caused by increased and unregulated growth of myeloid cells in the bone marrow, and the accumulation of excessive white blood cells. Abelson tyrosine kinase (ABL) is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase involved in cell growth and proliferation and is usually under tight control. However, 95% of CML patients have the ABL gene from chromosome 9 fused Read More

In 2000, Wyeth reported that the 3-quinolinecarbonitrile ring system was a template for EGFR inhibitors. It soon became apparent that the group at C-4 of this core was responsible for kinase selectivity. A 4-(2,4-dichloro-5- methoxyanilino) substituent provided potent inhibitors of Src, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase that plays a key role in cell signaling. One compound from this series, SKI-606, bosutinib, is currently in clinical t Read More

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