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Novel Drugs for Anticancer Therapy

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Synthesised compounds based on natural small molecules play an increasingly important role in the fight against cancer. Natural compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, and glycosides have a broad activity spectrum against cancer cells, but their isolation and use in therapy are limited due to low availability or high production costs. In response, synthetic analogues and derivatives of these natural substances that retain their beneficial biological properties while offering improved stability, bioavailability, and the possibility of chemical modification have been developed. Some of them show promising results in chemotherapy; these include synthetic glycosides and flavonoids, which exhibit anticancer activity by inhibiting cell division, inducing apoptosis, or inhibiting angiogenesis. These compounds are vital in cancer treatment because they enable the development of more effective, more selective, and less toxic therapies. Furthermore, by modifying the structure of natural substances, it is possible to obtain new compounds with enhanced anticancer activity and diminished side effects which contribute to the development of modern cancer therapies. We invite authors currently conducting research in the area of obtaining and testing synthetic compounds based on natural components that exhibit anticancer activity to publish review or research papers in our Special Issue.

Dr. Maciej Wnuk
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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 activity
  • natural small molecules
  • anticancer drugs
  • synthetic analogues

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Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
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