Transition metal complexes: a new generation of anticancer drugs

Abstract

The interest in transition metal complexes as antitumor agents started in the 1960s with the serendipitous dis- covery of cisplatin. This drug was appr ov ed by the US FDA in the 1970s for its use as a chemotherapeutic agent for ovarian, testicular, bladder and colorectal cancers. After tha t, differen t pla tinum compounds w er e designed and dev eloped , but only carboplatin and oxaliplatin w er e appr ov ed for usage in the clinic. Due to their potential for medicinal and diagnostic uses in several diseases including cancer [ 1 , 2 ], metallo- drugs have drawn incr easing inter est in biomedicine [ 3 ]. The chemical diversity and versatility of transition metals ar e r emarkable, con tingen t upon v arious factors such as the selected metal, its oxida tion sta te, the quan tity and kind of coordinating ligands and distinct magnetic and/or optical characteristics. In this ov erview, w e pr esent an outline of preclinical and clinical da ta rela t ed t o the anticanc er activity of tran- sition metal complexes and its poten tial applica tion in the clinic as chemotherapeutic agents. This editorial is expect ed t o c ontribut e t o understanding the likely uses of transition metals as antitumor agents.