Artemisinins as a novel anti-cancer therapy: Targeting a global cancer pandemic through drug repurposing

Abstract

Artemisinins are a unique class of antimalarial drugs with significant potential for drug repurposing for a wide range of diseases including cancer. Cancer is a leading cause of death globally and the majority of cancer related deaths occur in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) where conventional treatment options are often limited by financial cost. Drug repurposing can significantly shorten new therapeutic discovery pathways, ensuring greater accessibility and affordability globally. Artemisinins have an excellent safety and tolerability profile as well as being affordable for deployment in Low and Middle Class Income Countries at around USD1 per daily dose. Robust, well designed clinical trials of artemisinin drug repurposing are indicated for a variety of different cancers and treatment settings.

Keywords: Anti-cancer therapy; Artemisinins; Artesunate; Cancer; Drug repurposing; Oncology.

Fig. 1

Artemisinins: multiple modes of action against cancer CDK2/4/6; Cyclin dependent kinase 2/4/6:mTOR; mammalian target of rapamycin: EGFR;epidermal growth factor: HIF---1α; Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 alpha:VEGF; Vascular endothelial growth factor: KDR/flk---1;kinase insert domain receptor MMP2; Matrix Metallopeptidase 2: TIMP---2; Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 2: NCAM; Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule: IL---6;interleukin---6: IL---1β; Interleukin---1β: TNF---α; Tumour necrosis factor---α: TGF---β1; Transforming growth factor beta 1: NF---κB; nuclear factor kappa---light---chain--- enhancer of activated B cells: MIP---2; Macrophage Inflammatory Protein 2: PGE2; Prostaglandin E2: NO;Nitric Oxide.