Despite the significant progress in anticancer drug development over recent years, there is a vital need for newer agents with unique, but still effective, mechanisms of action order to treat disease, particularly highly aggressive and drug-resistant types. Alkylating agents, particular nitrogen-based alkylators, are commonly used hematological solid malignancies; they exert their antineoplasti...

The effect of various classes of differentiation-inducing agents on macromolecular synthesis was studied in a human myeloblastic leukemia cell line (ML-1). Antineoplastic drugs such as 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine, daunorubicin, and actinomycin D caused early inhibition of DNA synthesis, which generally preceded the accrual of differentiation markers. In contrast, retinoic acid and conditi...

Boronic acids have been illustrious in the literature back in 1860 [1], developing over the years into a wide studied area of chemistry. After the approval of Velcade® as proteasome inhibitor, boronic acids have emerged as a unique lead for several malignant tumors, as β-lactamase inhibitors, NS3 protease inhibitors, amino-acyl tRNA synthase inhibitors, and anticoagulants. Boronic acids and its...

OBJECTIVES To determine the prevalence of depressive symptoms among oncology patients and identify simultaneous use of antineoplastic and antidepressant agents. METHODS This was a cross-sectional study that interviewed 56 oncology patients using two data collection instruments: a questionnaire covering clinical and sociodemographic data and the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), for asses...

Targeting the oxygen stress response pathway is considered a promising strategy to exert antineoplastic activity in a broad spectrum of tumor types. Supporting this view, we summarize the mechanism of action of Taurolidine and Piperlongumine, two antineoplastic agents with strikingly broad tumor selectivity. Taurolidine enhances the oxidative stress (ROS) selectively in tumor cells. Its cytotox...

In the past, special guidelines and protective measures have been introduced to protect hospital workers during the handling of antineoplastic agents; nevertheless, it was found that they did not prevent the uptake of these toxic compounds. In response, additional protective measures were introduced, including adaptations of the laminar downflow hood, use of special masks, use of double pairs o...

BACKGROUND There are few data on the best combination antiretroviral therapy in patients with HIV infection who need cancer chemotherapy because of drug-drug interactions and increased risk of toxic effects. METHODS We evaluated the safety, efficacy and interactions of a raltegravir (RAL)-based regimen in 30 HIV-infected patients who received antineoplastic agents. RESULTS A total of 17 pat...

A serious adverse effect of cancer therapies is cardiovascular toxicity, which significantly limits the widespread use antineoplastic agents. The promising new field cardio-oncology offers identification potent anti-cancer therapeutics that effectively inhibit cell proliferation without causing cardiotoxicity. Future introduction recently identified cardio-safe compounds into clinical practice ...

Cisplatin and other platinum derivatives are among the most effective chemotherapeutic agents against solid tumors including ovarian, head and neck carcinomas, and germ cell tumors. The major side effect of cisplatin is nephrotoxicity. While several antineoplastic agents frequently exhibit nephrotoxicity, the platinum derivatives are among the most frequent compounds leading to renal injury (1)...