Advancements and Challenges in Anticancer Targeted Therapy with Small Molecules
A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Biology and Oncology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 667
Special Issue Editor
Interests: anticancer activity; small molecules; plant phenolics; leukemia; apoptosis; cell cycle; DNA damage; flow cytometry
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Small molecules are chemical compounds with masses < 900 Da. Due to their small size, they easily penetrate the cell membrane and interact not only with membrane receptors but also with intracellular targets. They are easily distributed in the body and metabolized to an active drug. Small molecules constitute the majority of manufactured drugs and are mainly taken by patients orally.
Small molecules are successfully used as molecularly targeted drugs in the treatment of some cancers, as is the case with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
Small molecules have been developed for many therapeutic cancer targets. Examples include receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors and non-receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors, serine/threonine kinase inhibitors, proteasome inhibitors, inhibitors for epigenetic regulatory proteins, BCL-2 inhibitors, and matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors.
The great success achieved in the treatment of CML cannot be achieved in many other cancer diseases, possibly due to the heterogeneous expression of the therapeutic targets of cancer cells in patients. Another problem is resistance to therapy using small molecules, both existing ones and those acquired during treatment.
To solve these problems, we need to identify new predictive biomarkers, develop small molecules targeted at resistance mutations and cancer stem cells or use multitarget drugs.
This Special Issue will present research on new small molecules as molecular targeted therapies in cancer treatment, as well as research on new ways to bypass the problems of acquired resistance to small molecules. Research on new therapeutic targets is also welcome.
Dr. Monika Papiez
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- small molecules
- cancer
- anticancer targeted therapy
- cancer resistance
- cancer growth blockers
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