Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors for the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer: Recent Progress and Future Prospects

Abstract

Background: Colorectal cancer is a devastating disease with a dismal prognosis which is heavily hampered by delayed diagnosis. Surgical resection, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are the curative options. Due to few therapeutic treatments available i.e., mono and combination therapy and development of resistance towards drug response, novel and efficacious therapy are urgently needed.

Objective: In this study, we have studied the potential of histone deacetylase inhibitors in colorectal cancer.

Results: Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs) are an emerging class of therapeutic agents having potential anticancer activity with minimal toxicity for different types of malignancies in preclinical studies. HDACIs have proven less effective in monotherapy thus the combination of HDACIs with other anticancer agents are being assessed for the treatment of colorectal cancer.

Conclusion: The molecular mechanism emphasizing the anticancer effect of HDACIs in colorectal cancer was illustrated and a recapitulation was carried out on the recent advances in the rationale behind combination therapies currently underway in clinical evaluations.

Keywords: Colorectal cancer; HDAC inhibitors; fluoropyrimidines; kinase inhibitors; proteasome inhibitors; topoisomerase inhibitors.