Disulfiram and Copper Gluconate in Cancer Chemotherapy; a Review of the Literature

Abstract

Repurposing non- cancer related drugs with possible antitumoral activities is a promising strategy for identifying prospective new anticancer drugs in a cost efficient and time saving way. Repurposing disulfiram has recently become of interest because of its pre-clinically described anticancer effects against various human cancers, which include breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, melanoma, prostate as well as myeloma and leukaemia. Epidemiological studies reveal a trend to reduced cancer risks in cancer patients using disulfiram for chronic alcoholism treatment while already reported literature point to the efficacy of disulfiram on cancer cell lines. Disulfiram has been shown to be effective either as a stand alone or in combination with other drugs against metastatic liver cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, glioblastoma and melanoma. Preclinical studies indicate that disulfiram when combined with copper ions acts as a proteasome inhibitor, to induce oxidative stress, reduce NFƙB (Nuclear factor ƙappa Binding) activity and enhance the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. This study analyzed existing literature and found that disulfiram in combination with copper gluconate is a promising therapeutic agent for use in cancer chemotherapy.