Repurposing Antipsychotics for Cancer Treatment
Nikolaos Vlachos1, Marios Lampros1, Spyridon Voulgaris1
1Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Ioannina, St. Niarhou Avenue, 45500 Ioannina, Greece.
Biomedicines
|December 24, 2021
Summary
Drug repurposing offers a faster, cheaper cancer treatment alternative. This review explores antipsychotic drugs
Area of Science:
- Oncology and Pharmacology
- Drug Discovery and Development
Background:
- Cancer remains a major global health challenge, with millions of new cases annually.
- Developing novel anti-cancer drugs is costly and time-consuming, with high failure rates in clinical trials.
- Drug repurposing presents a viable strategy to accelerate cancer treatment development due to established safety profiles.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the anti-cancer properties of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs.
- To explore the in-vitro and in-vivo mechanisms of action of these repurposed drugs in cancer treatment.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature review of existing studies on antipsychotic drugs and cancer.
- Analysis of in-vitro and in-vivo data regarding the efficacy and mechanisms of antipsychotics in preclinical cancer models.
Main Results:
- Antipsychotic medications demonstrate promising anti-cancer activities.
- Both typical and atypical antipsychotics exhibit potential for inhibiting tumor growth and proliferation.
- Detailed mechanisms of action for various antipsychotics in cancer contexts are discussed.
Conclusions:
- Antipsychotic drugs represent a potential avenue for cancer drug repurposing.
- Further research into antipsychotics could lead to more cost-effective and efficient cancer therapies.
- This review highlights the need for continued investigation into the anti-cancer potential of existing medications.
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