Experimental therapeutics: targeting the redox Achilles heel of cancer.

摘要: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have recently emerged as promising targets for anticancer drug discovery. Constitutively elevated levels of cellular oxidative stress and dependence on mitogenic anti-apoptotic ROS signaling represent a specific vulnerability malignant cells that can be selectively targeted by novel pro- antioxidant redox chemotherapeutics. This review discusses small-molecule drugs currently in various phases preclinical clinical development are characterized their unique mechanism action, including superoxide dismutase catalase mimetics, bioreductively activated pro-oxidant catalysts, metal-based pro-oxidants, hypoxia-selective free radical precursors, antagonists the cancer cell glutathione or thioredoxin systems. Based ongoing biomarker discovery validation, future phenotyping genotyping may guide selection chemotherapeutics efficiently target Achilles heel individual tumor.