title: Artemisinin and Its Derivatives as a Repurposing Anticancer Agent: What Else Do We Need to Do?
abstract: Preclinical investigation and clinical experience have provided evidence on the potential anticancer effect of artemisinin and its derivatives (ARTs) in the recent two decades. The major mechanisms of action of ARTs may be due to toxic-free radicals generated by an endoperoxide moiety, cell cycle arrest, induction of apoptosis, and inhibition of tumor angiogenesis. It is very promising that ARTs are expected to be a new class of antitumor drugs of wide spectrum due to their detailed information regarding efficacy and safety. For developing repurposed drugs, many other characteristics of ARTs should be studied, including through further investigations on possible new pathways of anticancer effects, exploration on efficient and specific drug delivery systems-especially crossing biological barriers, and obtaining sufficient data in clinical trials. The aim of this review is to highlight these achievements and propose the potential strategies to develop ARTs as a new class of cancer therapeutic agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. jamesbangzhe@sina.com.|Cancer Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. jamesbangzhe@sina.com.
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. qinli128003@163.com.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Cancer Center, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. woshiwujun0613@sina.com.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100069, China. wangmy@ccmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Manyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100050, China. junxianyu@ccmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Junxian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D037621:Artemisinins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D037621:Artemisinins
keywords: anticancer activity; artemisinin; clinical trials; repurposed; specific drug delivery system