Drug Repurposing Opportunities in Cancer

Abstract

AbstractCancer is the second most vital health concern across the globe. Chemotherapy has long been a popular option for the treatment of different sorts of cancer. Chemotherapy, on the other hand, has a number of pitfalls, including non-specificity, resistance by tumor cells, fatal toxicities, and high drug costs. Furthermore, developing new therapeutics is an extensive and expensive process with poor chances of success. As a result, drug repurposing (DR) has transpired as a new path in which a medicine previously licensed for one condition can now be used to treat another condition, such as cancer. This avenue is superior to de novo with respect to the time and money. In addition, there is less probability of failure of repurposed therapeutics in clinical trials. Large numbers of studies have reported the potential of repurposed therapeutics and phytochemicals in various cancers. In the present chapter, we have discussed the importance of repurposed therapeutics, barriers in DR, and computational approaches in DR.The opportunities of repurposing small-molecules non-oncology therapeutics and phytochemicals against assorted cancers are also discussed. Furthermore, repurposed cargos in clinical trials and future prospects of DR are briefed. In the current scenario, the drug repurposing appears to be an optimistic way and so is likely to offer proficient treatment at a fair price in debilitating diverse sorts of cancers.KeywordsCancerDrug repurposingComputational toolsSmall-moleculesPhytochemicalsClinical trials