Table 1 Drug repurposing for cancer therapy
Class of drug | Name of drug | Chemical structure of drug | Type of cancer cells tested | Mechanism/results | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anthelmintic Antiprotozoal | Flubendazole |
| breast cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma colorectal cancer melanoma cells | ↑Microtubule damage ↑ROS, ↑Cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase ↑Caspases 3, 7 ↑Apoptosis ↑Cytotoxicity ↓Cancer cells growth ↓Metastasis ↓Resistance to anticancer drug trastuzumab | |
Mebendazole |
| breast cancer, prostate cancer colon cancer ovarian cancer thyroid cancer | Synergistic effects with docetaxel ↓Polymerization of tubulin ↑ Cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase ↑Caspase-3 ↑Apoptosis ↑Cytotoxicity ↓ Cancer cells multiplication ↓ Tumor growth ↓Metastases | ||
Niclosamide |
| colorectal, breast, prostate and ovarian cancer | ↑Cytotoxicity ↓Anaerobic metabolism, ↓glucose uptake in cancer cells ↓Signaling pathways associated with metastasis, ↓NF-κB, ↓Wnt/β-catenin, ↓STAT3 | ||
Praziquantel |
| colorectal adenocarcinoma, gastrointestinal cancers | ↓XIAP ↓Anti-apoptotic proteins ↓Caspases ↑Apoptosis Synergic effects with paclitaxel | [53] | |
Eprinomectin |
| prostate cancer | ↑Apoptosis ↑Caspases 3, 9 ↓ROS ↑Mitotic cell arrest in G1 phase ↑Translocation of β-catenin | [87] | |
Ivermectin |
| colon, prostate, breast and gastric cancer | ↓Cancer cells growth ↓AKT–mTOR ↓Wnt/β-catenin ↓PAK1 ↓cyclin D ↓β-catenin ↓AKT/ERK//NF-kB ↓YAP1 ↓CTGF ↓EGFR | ||
Nitazoxanide |
| epithelial cancer cells | ↑Apoptosis ↓c-MYC ↓mTOR ↑DNA fragmentation and damage | [148] | |
Clioquinol |
| leukemic and myeloma malignant cells | ↑Apoptosis ↓HDACs ↑Cell cycle arrest ↓p53, ↓p21 | [95] | |
Chloroquine |
| pancreatic, liver cancer, cancer stem cells breast cancer | ↑Autophagy, ↓Janus kinase 2 ↓DNA methylase 1 Synergistic effect in the combination with paclitaxel ↓Growth of cancer, ↓Signaling cascade of CXCL12/CXCR4 | [149] | |
Antiviral | Ritonavir |
| breast, pancreatic, ovarian and lymphocytic leukemia | ↓Akt phosphorylation ↑Apoptosis ↓Progression of cancer cells | [150] |
Nelfinavir |
| ovarian, breast, lung cancer and liposarcoma | ↑Apoptosis ↓Phosphorylation of Akt ↓STAT-3 ↓Erk 1/2 | [151] | |
Acyclovir |
| breast cancer | ↓Cell proliferation ↑Apoptosis ↑Caspase-3 ↓ALDH ↑Proteins expression of E-cadherin, ↓Proliferation rate, ↓Tumor growth | [125] | |
Ribavirin |
| human lymphocytes and human squamous cell carcinoma | ↓Cyclin D1 ↓Proteins cells, ↓elF4E and competing for guanylyl transferase ↓Translation of VEGF ↓mRNA, inhibit 5'-mRNA | [152] | |
Cidofovir |
| glioblastoma and epithelial cells cancer | ↑Apoptosis ↑PARP ↑Caspases ↑Cell cycle arrest in S-phase ↓DNA synthesis | [153] |
