Repurposing some of the Well-known Non-steroid Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for Cancer Treatment

Abstract

Drug repurposing is a strategy used to develop new treatments based on approved or investigational drugs outside the scope of their original clinical indication. Since this approach benefits from the original toxicity data of the repurposed drugs, the drug-repurposing strategy is timesaving, and inexpensive. It has a higher success rate compared to traditional drug discovery. Several repurposing candidates have been identified in silico screening and in vitro methodologies. One of the best examples is non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Tumor-promoting inflammation is one of the hallmarks of cancer, revealing a connection between inflammatory processes and tumor progression and development. This explains why using NSAIDs in the context of neoplasia has become a topic of interest. Indeed, identifying NSAIDs with antitumor activity has become a promising strategy for finding novel cancer treatment opportunities. Indeed, several commercial anti-inflammatory drugs, including aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, celecoxib, tepoxalin and cyclovalone, naproxen, and indomethacin have presented antitumor activity, and some of them are already in clinical trials for cancer treatment. However, the benefits and complications of using NSAIDs for cancer treatment must be carefully evaluated, particularly for cancer patients with no further therapeutic options available. This review article provides insight into the drug repurposing strategy and describes some of the well-known NSAIDs that have been investigated as repurposed drugs with potential anticancer activity.

Keywords: Anticancer activity; anticancer agents; cancer treatment; drug repurposing; non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs; traditional drug discovery..