Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive and frequent primary brain tumor, with a poor prognosis and the highest mortality rate. Currently, GBM therapy consists of surgical resection of the tumor, radiotherapy, and adjuvant chemotherapy with temozolomide. Consistently, there are poor treatment options and only modest anticancer efficacy is achieved; therefore, there is still a need for the development of new effective therapies for GBM. Indole is considered one of the most privileged scaffolds in heterocyclic chemistry, so it may serve as an effective probe for the development of new drug candidates against challenging diseases, including GBM. This review analyzes the therapeutic benefit and clinical development of novel indole-based derivatives investigated as promising anti-GBM agents. The existing indole-based compounds which are in the pre-clinical and clinical stages of development against GBM are reported, with particular reference to the most recent advances between 2013 and 2022. The main mechanisms of action underlying their anti-GBM efficacy, such as protein kinase, tubulin and p53 pathway inhibition, are also discussed. The final goal is to pave the way for medicinal chemists in the future design and development of novel effective indole-based anti-GBM agents.
Keywords: brain tumor; glioblastoma; heterocyclic chemistry; indole.