title: Perspectives of antimony compounds in oncology.
abstract: Antimony, a natural element that has been used as a drug for over more than 100 years, has remarkable therapeutic efficacy in patients with acute promyelocytic leukemia. This review focuses on recent advances in developing antimony anticancer agents with an emphasis on antimony coordination complexes, Sb (III) and Sb (V). These complexes, which include many organometallic complexes, may provide a broader spectrum of antitumoral activity. They were compared with classical platinum anticancer drugs. The review covers the literature data published up to 2007. A number of antimonials with different antitumoral activities are known and have diverse applications, even though little research has been done on their possibilities. It might be feasible to develop more specific and effective inhibitors for phosphatase-targeted, anticancer therapeutics through the screening of sodium stibogluconate (SSG) and potassium antimonyltartrate-related compounds, which are comprised of antimony conjugated to different organic moieties. For example, SSG appears to be a better inhibitor than suramin which is a compound known for its antineoplastic activity against several types of cancers.
authors.affiliation: Instituto De Química, UNAM Circuito Exterior, Coyoacan México DF.04510, Mexico. pankajsh@servidor.unam.mx
authors.forename: Pankaj
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.forename: Noe
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rosas
authors.forename: Jose Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000965:Antimony / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D000965:Antimony