Repurposing Antipsychotics for Cancer Treatment
Nikolaos Vlachos1, Marios Lampros1, Spyridon Voulgaris1
1Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Ioannina, St. Niarhou Avenue, 45500 Ioannina, Greece.
Abstract:
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, with approximately 19 million new cases each year. Lately, several novel chemotherapeutic drugs have been introduced, efficiently inhibiting tumor growth and proliferation. However, developing a new drug is a time- and money-consuming process, requiring around 1 billion dollars and nearly ten years, with only a minority of the initially effective anti-cancer drugs experimentally finally being efficient in human clinical trials. Drug repurposing for cancer treatment is an optimal alternative as the safety of these drugs has been previously tested, and thus, in case of successful preclinical studies, can be introduced faster and with a lower cost into phase 3 clinical trials. Antipsychotic drugs are associated with anti-cancer properties and, lately, there has been an increasing interest in their role in cancer treatment. In the present review, we discussed in detail the in-vitro and in-vivo properties of the most common typical and atypical antipsychotics, along with their mechanism of action.
Insights
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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