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The Anticancer Potential of Ionic Liquids

Ana Rita Dias1, João Costa-Rodrigues2,3,4, Maria Helena Fernandes2

  • 1Ciências Químicas e das Biomoléculas / Centro de Investigação em Saúde e Ambiente (CISA), ESS-Escola Superior de Saúde do Porto do Instituto Politécnico do Porto, Portugal, Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida, 400, 4200-072, Porto, Portugal.

Chemmedchem
|December 3, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Ionic liquids (ILs), organic salts with tunable properties, show promise as novel anticancer agents. Research explores their potential to enhance drug delivery and exhibit direct antitumor effects, offering new therapeutic avenues.

Area of Science:

  • Pharmaceutical Science
  • Materials Science
  • Oncology

Background:

  • The pharmaceutical industry seeks innovative cancer therapies.
  • Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with tunable physicochemical properties.
  • ILs are being investigated as potential therapeutic agents.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review recent applications of ionic liquids as antitumor agents.
  • To highlight the potential of ILs in cancer therapy.
  • To explore the combination of ILs with active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of recent studies on ILs in cancer treatment.
  • Analysis of ILs' physicochemical properties and their impact on API formulation.
  • Examination of reported antitumor activities of ILs.

Main Results:

  • Ionic liquids demonstrate tunable properties for potential pharmaceutical applications.
  • ILs can be combined with APIs to potentially improve drug characteristics.
  • Several studies indicate inherent antitumor properties of certain ILs.

Conclusions:

  • Ionic liquids represent a promising class of compounds for developing novel anticancer therapies.
  • Further research into ILs could lead to improved drug delivery systems and direct antitumor treatments.
  • The versatility of ILs offers significant potential for advancing cancer treatment strategies.
Keywords:
active pharmaceutical ingredientsantitumor agentscancerionic liquidstoxicity

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