Small Molecules Polypharmacology for the Treatment of Breast Cancer: A Roadmap for the Future Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is considered as the most common ailment in women across the globe. There are a variety of major factors for the growth and progression of breast cancer. Although genetic changes are key factors for cancer progression, epigenetic and environmental factors also have their fair share of contribution. Hypothesis: An attempt has been made in the review to highlight about small molecule polypharmacology for the treatment of breast cancer which is the design of small molecules (molecular weight <900Da) that aim for two or more cancer targets (tyrosine kinases). Small molecules are advantageous over conventional chemotherapy with higher target specificity, lesser known side effects, simplified dosing schedule, non-invasive dosing and improved patient compliance. Results and Conclusion: Small molecules have been introduced since the past two decades and has been a potential success in the field of cancer chemotherapy, but there are lot more to explore. The review mainly focuses on the essential cellular signaling pathways involved in breast cancer progression and the recent small molecule inhibitors that show promising activity against the pathways.Reetuparna Acharya is a Research Scholar from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi and she is currently pursuing her Ph.D. on small molecules synthesis and evaluation of their molecular mechanistic pathway on mammary carcinogenesis. She had finished her Master's degree in Pharmacology with the molecular evaluation of the anticancer mechanism of quinazoline derivatives on breast cancer model in Sprague Dawley rats.