Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones - a review

• Published in: RSC advances 2015-01, Vol.5 (26), p.239-2338
• Main Author: Wellington, Kevin W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c4ra13547d

The non-communicable disease, cancer, is one of the major causes of death across the world and is forecast to increase by 75% to reach close to 25 million cases over the next two decades. Radiotherapy and surgical approaches have been unsuccessful in controlling the incidence of most cancers. The development of chemotherapeutic strategies involving novel small molecule antitumour agents has therefore been the focus area of cancer chemotherapy for several decades as another strategy to combat and control the incidence of cancer. Many natural products as well as several synthetic drugs have a naphthoquinone chromophore. The anticancer activities of naphthoquinones have been the focus of much research to discover novel anticancer agents. The naturally occurring 1,2-naphthoquinone-based compound, β-lapachone (ARQ 761), is currently being assessed for its anti-tumour activity against advanced solid tumours. This review describes the most recent applications of naphthoquinones and their derivatives in cancer drug discovery. The biology relevant to the design of novel naphthoquinone anticancer agents is also discussed. Furthermore, the discussion of the biology will contribute to understanding cancer as well as the applications of naphthoquinones as anticancer agents. Naphthoquinone moieties are present in drugs such as doxorubicin which are used clinically to treat solid cancers.