Rosuvastatin based novel 3-substituted isocoumarins / 3-alkylidenephthalides: Ultrasound assisted synthesis and identification of new anticancer agents

Statin as a Potential Chemotherapeutic Agent: Current Updates as a Monotherapy, Combination Therapy, and Treatment for Anti-Cancer Drug Resistance

Cancer is incurable because progressive phenotypic and genotypic changes in cancer cells lead to resistance and recurrence. This indicates the need for the development of new drugs or alternative therapeutic strategies. The impediments associated with new drug discovery have necessitated drug repurposing (i.e., the use of old drugs for new therapeutic indications), which is an economical, safe, and efficacious approach as it is emerged from clinical drug development or may even be marketed with a well-established safety profile and optimal dosing. Statins are inhibitors of HMG-CoA reductase in cholesterol biosynthesis and are used in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, atherosclerosis, and obesity. As cholesterol is linked to the initiation and progression of cancer, statins have been extensively used in cancer therapy with a concept of drug repurposing. Many studies including in vitro and in vivo have shown that statin has been used as monotherapy to inhibit cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. Moreover, it has been used as a combination therapy to mediate synergistic action to overcome anti-cancer drug resistance as well. In this review, the recent explorations are done in vitro, in vivo, and clinical trials to address the action of statin either single or in combination with anti-cancer drugs to improve the chemotherapy of the cancers were discussed. Here, we discussed the emergence of statin as a lipid-lowering drug; its use to inhibit cancer cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis as a monotherapy; and its use in combination with anti-cancer drugs for its synergistic action to overcome anti-cancer drug resistance. Furthermore, we discuss the clinical trials of statins and the current possibilities and limitations of preclinical and clinical investigations.

Facile synthesis and biological evaluation of tryptamine-piperazine-2,5-dione conjugates as anticancer agents

A facile and efficient route to synthesize N-heterocyclic fused tryptamine-piperazine-2,5-dione conjugates was developed via a post-Ugi cascade reaction. The targeted compounds were prepared by means of a mild reaction and simple operation procedure, which could be applied to a broad scope of starting materials. Compound 6h was demonstrated to induce significant growth inhibition of AsPC-1 and SW1990 human pancreatic cancer cell lines (IC₅₀ = 6 ± 0.85 μM). Our protocol allows for the construction of a structurally diverse compound library and paves a new avenue for the discovery of pancreatic cancer drug candidates.

A series of tryptamine-piperazine-2,5-dione conjugates derivatives was designed and synthesized via Ugi cascade reaction. The discovery of compound 6h may provide a new avenue for pancreatic cancer drug discovery.