Vanadium and cancer treatment: In vitro evidences

Abstract

Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth. in which the cells grow uncontrollably with the potential of invade and spread to other parts of the body. This group of diseases is one of the main death causes in the world, thus becoming a significant topic of scientific research. On the other hand, transition metals play a fundamental role in different living systems. In particular, Metal based drugs represent original and powerful tools for diverse pharmacological uses. To date, various metallodrugs have been developed due to their interesting biological activities as antimalarials, antibacterials, etc, Moreover, in the last decades, scientific interest has been also focused in metallodrugs for theyr activities in chemotherapy. In this context, the field of anticancer metallodrugs begun with the discovery and clinical use of cisplatin, a leading agent in cancer therapy. Currently, several reports show that the anticancer metal-based drugs are the main complexes used in the treatment of several cancers, such us, lung, colon, breast, bladder, etc. In this chapter we recapitulate current information and new advances on in vitro anticancer activity of different compounds derived from vanadium. This review deals with vanadium-containing compounds targeting DNA or proteins and cellular organelles, currently in use, or designed to be used as therapeutics against different types of cancer. The effects of these metal transition derivatives on some cellular signaling pathways related to cancer development and the mechanism of cell death have been comprehensibly reviewed. The knowledge of these mechanisms of action and the analysis of structure-activity relationship might improve the design and synthesis of new metal-based drugs with promising pharmacologic applications as antitumor agents.