Design, Synthesis and Evaluation of Anticancer Agents
This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The discovery and development of novel anticancer agents remain critical in addressing the persistent challenges of tumor resistance, off-target toxicity, and the limited efficacy of current therapies. This Special Issue aims to highlight recent advances in the molecular design, synthesis, and preclinical evaluation of innovative anticancer compounds.
We invite original research and review articles focusing on chemically diverse scaffolds, including heterocycles, metal-based complexes, molecular hybrids, and bioactive natural product derivatives. Submissions emphasizing structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies, mechanism-driven design, and computational approaches, such as molecular docking, pharmacophore modeling, and ADMET prediction, are particularly welcome.
Research exploring molecular targets such as kinases, topoisomerases, epigenetic regulators, and tubulin, as well as studies employing in vitro and ex vivo models to assess antiproliferative activity, target engagement, and selectivity, will be of special interest.
By bringing together interdisciplinary approaches in synthetic chemistry, molecular pharmacology, and drug discovery, this Special Issue seeks to advance the development of next-generation anticancer therapeutics with improved safety and efficacy profiles.
Dr. Gourav Kumar
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- anticancer drug design
- structure–activity relationship (SAR)
- molecular targets in cancer
- synthetic antitumor agents
- in vitro and ex vivo cancer models
- molecular pharmacology
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

