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Repurposing anticancer drugs for the management of COVID-19

Khalid El Bairi1, Dario Trapani2, Angelica Petrillo3

  • 1Department of Medical Oncology, Mohammed VI University Hospital, Oujda, Morocco.

European Journal of Cancer (Oxford, England : 1990)
|October 30, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Repurposing anticancer drugs offers a promising strategy to accelerate the discovery of new treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This review examines investigational anticancer drugs for COVID-19 therapy.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, rapidly became a global pandemic, highlighting an urgent need for effective therapeutics.
  • Current treatment options for COVID-19 are limited, with supportive care being primary and other interventions showing modest or undefined efficacy.
  • Drug repurposing, utilizing existing approved drugs for new indications, has emerged as a key strategy to expedite therapeutic development for emerging infectious diseases like COVID-19.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review and discuss repurposed anticancer drugs being investigated or proposed for the treatment of COVID-19.
  • To highlight the potential of oncology drugs in combating the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.
  • To provide an overview of drugs currently in clinical trials or under consideration for COVID-19 treatment.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of scientific publications and clinical trial databases.
  • Identification of anticancer drugs with proposed or investigated efficacy against SARS-CoV-2.
  • Analysis of drugs undergoing clinical evaluation for COVID-19 treatment.

Main Results:

  • Several repurposed anticancer drugs are under active investigation in clinical trials for COVID-19.
  • These repurposed agents represent a significant area of research in the search for novel COVID-19 therapies.
  • The efficacy and safety profiles of these repurposed drugs in the context of COVID-19 are still being determined.

Conclusions:

  • Repurposing anticancer drugs is a viable and accelerated approach to discovering new therapeutic options for COVID-19.
  • Ongoing clinical trials are crucial for validating the effectiveness of these repurposed agents against SARS-CoV-2.
  • Anticancer drugs represent a promising avenue for developing urgently needed treatments for the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords:
Anticancer drugsCOVID-19RepurposingSARS-CoV-2

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