Repurposing of approved drugs in a new strategy to combat cancer that leads to savings in time and investment. Atovaquone is a US FDA-approved drug for treatment of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia and malaria. Patent US2023017373 describe the use of mito-atovaquone for the treatment of several types of cancer. Mito-atovaquone demonstrated antiproliferative activity in cell lines of pancreatic cancer, lung cancer and brain cancer and inhibited tumor growth in syngeneic mouse models and in animals genetically prone to breast cancer. Mito-atovaquone has the potential to be used successfully in the treatment of various types of tumors.
Keywords: brain cancer; breast cancer; drug repurposing; lung cancer; mito-atovaquone; pancreatic cancer.