Progress in Copper Complexes as Anticancer Agents

The advent of targeted therapies, i.e., small molecules or antibodies that interfere with signaling proteins involved in the etiology of cancer, revolutionized thetreatment of tumors with an addiction to specific oncogenes (e.g., ALK in lung cancer, Bcr-Abl in chronic myeloid leukemia, KIT in GIST, EGFR in lung cancer, HER2 in breast cancer or MET in liver tumors). However, for many cancers, the progressionfree survival of patients treated with targeted therapy is less than one year, which justify for a regain of interest in cytotoxic agents including metallodrugs. 

Indeed, the prevalent success of cisplatin in the treatment of various types of cancers has placed organometallic compounds on the forefront in the development of anticancer drugs. In this quest, copper derivatives hold promising opportunities due to opportunities provided by the hypoxic environment that is a hallmark of cancer cells coupled with the ability of copper complexes to catalyze the formation of Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen species (ROS and RNS).(Read More)