Aurone and its analogues as targeted drugs for the anticancer treatment

Targeted therapy has become a crucial strategy in modern anticancer treatment. Among various pharmacophores explored, aurones (2-benzylidenebenzofuran-3(2H)-ones) and their analogues have garnered increasing attention as promising scaffolds for targeted cancer therapy due to their ability to interact with multiple oncological targets. This review comprehensively examines the medicinal chemistry development of aurone-based lead compounds over the past decade, with particular emphasis on their derivatization strategies, pharmacological potency, and structure-activity relationships against key cancer targets. Accumulated evidence demonstrates that aurone derivatives and their analogues show promising potential as candidate drugs for next-generation targeted anticancer agents. The present review not only summarizes current research progress but also provides valuable perspectives for future directions in aurone-based anticancer drug discovery.