Kinase Inhibitors: A Promising Approach for Targeted Cancer Therapy

Cancer develops through unrestrained cell reproduction, which occurs because of genetic alterations, and it leads to 18.1% of fatalities from noninfectious diseases throughout India. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) report that cancer cases will experience substantial growth during the upcoming 20 years. Breast cancer leads to the highest number of female deaths, while lung cancer stands as the most common cause of death for males. The Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) reports show that cancer cases increased from 18.1 million in 2018 to about 19 million in 2020. Current therapies have made progress, yet drug resistance and restricted selectivity, together with dangerous side effects, still prevent effective long-term treatment success. Kinase inhibitors have emerged as a promising class of targeted therapeutics that selectively modulate dysregulated signaling pathways involved in cancer progression. The field lacks a complete and recent evaluation of newly developed kinase inhibitors, which target multiple signaling pathways. The study systematizes and evaluates kinase inhibitors, which target receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and sucrose non-fermenting-1/AMP-activated protein kinase (Snf1/AMPK). The review focuses on recently synthesized molecules (2020-2025) which target major receptors such as EGFR and VEGFR and MELK and acetyl coenzyme A-related pathways. The work presents a comprehensive summary of recent developments in the field while showing structural activity relationships and pointing out future research paths for anticancer-based kinase inhibitor development.