Review of promising benzimidazole-based anticancer agents (2023-2026)

Benzimidazoles represent a key class of heterocyclic compounds that stand out for their wide range of biological activity. This scaffold has become particularly important in medicinal chemistry due to its ability to mimic the purine bases of natural nucleosides, which ensures active interaction with biological targets. Today, the benzimidazole moiety provides a basis for many clinically significant drugs, such as omeprazole, albendazole, pantoprazole, and others. The potential of benzimidazole derivatives as inhibitors of cancer cell proliferation has actively been studied in recent years. In this regard, the development of highly selective, low-toxicity cytostatic molecules based on benzimidazole is highly relevant for modern oncopharmacology. This paper provides a systematic overview of advances reported over 2023-2026 in the anticancer activity of benzimidazole derivatives. The focus is on the results of preclinical studies on a panel of cell lines, including cervical carcinoma (HeLa), bladder carcinoma (HTB-9), non-small cell lung cancer (A-549), colorectal carcinoma (HCT-116), colon cancer (HT-29), chronic myeloid leukemia (K-562), acute lymphoblastic leukemia (CCRF-CEM), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), and glioblastoma (LN-18). The data analysis revealed the most promising compounds that exhibit a pronounced cytostatic activity against cancer cells. The relationship between the molecular structure and activity of the examined compounds was evaluated. This review summarizes the latest achievements in this field and can serve as a basis for a further search for novel benzimidazole skeleton-containing anticancer agents.