Anticancer therapeutic potential of benzofuran scaffolds

Abstract

Benzofuran moiety is the main component of many biologically active natural and synthetic heterocycles. These heterocycles have unique therapeutic potentials and are involved in various clinical drugs. The reported results confirmed the extraordinary inhibitory potency of such benzofurans against a panel of human cancer cell lines compared with a wide array of reference anticancer drugs. Several publications about the anticancer potencies of benzofuran-based heterocycles were encountered. The recent developments of anticancer activities of both natural and synthetic benzofuran scaffolds during 2019-2022 are thoroughly covered. Many of the described benzofurans are promising candidates for development as anticancer agents based on their outstanding inhibitory potency against a panel of human cancer cells compared with reference anticancer drugs. These findings encourage medicinal chemists to explore new areas to improve human health and reduce suffering.

Fig. 1. Structures of some natural benzofuran derivatives with anticancer activities.

Fig. 2. Some clinical drugs containing benzofuran scaffolds.

Fig. 3. Summarized molecular targets for benzofurans as anticancer compounds.

Ashraf A. Abbas

Kamal M. Dawood