Recent Progress on Apoptotic Activity of Triazoles

Apoptosis is often called programmed cell death and is defined as a self-directed cell destruction process. It is different from necrosis due to the activation of caspases during this process. Apoptosis is directly related to cancer progression and plays a vital role in carcinogenesis; all cytotoxic drugs and radiation therapy programs initiate apoptosis in tumor cells. Today, studies show that heterocyclic compounds that contain triazole functionality have anticancer activities; triazoles are 5- membered rings, which contain two carbon and three nitrogen atoms. Therefore, many researchers have synthesized these small active compounds as target structures and evaluated their apoptotic activities. The present review describes recent medicinal aspects of triazoles as anticancer agents that have been reported during the past few years. We hope that the bioactivity of triazole derivatives will be beneficial for the rational design of a new generation of small molecule drugs.