Tolfenamic acid suppresses cytochrome P450 2E1 expression in mouse liver

Fenamates: Forgotten treasure for cancer treatment and prevention: Mechanisms of action, structural modification, and bright future

Fenamates as classical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents are widely used for relieving pain. Preclinical studies and epidemiological data highlight their chemo-preventive and chemotherapeutic potential for cancer. However, comprehensive reviews of fenamates in cancer are limited. To accelerate the repurposing of fenamates, this review summarizes the results of fenamates alone or in combination with existing chemotherapeutic agents. This paper also explores targets of fenamates in cancer therapy, including COX, AKR family, AR, gap junction, FTO, TEAD, DHODH, TAS2R14, ion channels, and DNA. Besides, this paper discusses other mechanisms, such as regulating Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β, p38 MAPK, and NF-κB pathway, and the regulation of the expressions of Sp, EGR-1, NAG-1, ATF-3, ErbB2, AR, as well as the modulation of the tumor immune microenvironment. Furthermore, this paper outlined the structural modifications of fenamates, highlighting their potential as promising leads for anticancer drugs.

Tolfenamic Acid

Tolfenamic acid (TA) is a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug and belongs to the group of fenamates. It is used as a potent pain reliever in the treatment of acute migraine attacks, and disorders like dysmenorrhea, rheumatoid, and osteoarthritis. TA has shown excellent in vitro antibacterial activity against certain ATCC strains of bacteria when complexed with bismuth(III). It has also been reported to block pathological processes associated with Alzheimer's disease. In the recent past, TA has also been used as a novel anticancer agent for the treatment of various cancers. In view of the clinical importance of TA, a comprehensive review of the physical and pharmaceutical properties and details of the various analytical methods used for the assay of the drug in pharmaceutical and biological systems has been made. The methods reviewed include identification tests and titrimetric, spectrophotometric, chromatographic, electrochemical, thermal, microscopic, enzymatic, and solid-state techniques. Along with the analytical profile, the stability and degradation of TA, its pharmacology and pharmacokinetics, dosage forms and dose, adverse effects and toxicity, and interactions have been discussed.