Repurposing itraconazole for the treatment of cancer (Review)

  • Authors:
    • Rachel Pounds
    • Sarah Leonard
    • Christopher Dawson
    • Sean Kehoe
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: July 10, 2017     https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6569
  • Pages: 2587-2597
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Abstract

The repurposing of drugs is becoming increasingly attractive as it avoids the lengthy process and cost implications associated with bringing a novel drug to market. Itraconazole is a broad‑spectrum anti‑fungal agent. An emerging body of in vivo, in vitro and clinical evidence have confirmed that it also possesses antineoplastic activities and has a synergistic action when combined with other chemotherapeutic agents. It acts via several mechanisms to prevent tumour growth, including inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway, prevention of angiogenesis, decreased endothelial cell proliferation, cell cycle arrest and induction of auto‑phagocytosis. These allow itraconazole, either alone or in combination with other cytotoxic agents, to increase drug efficacy and overcome drug resistance. This study reviews the reported literature on the use of itraconazole in a variety of malignancies and highlights the recent insights into the critical pathways acted upon to prevent tumour growth.
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September-2017
Volume 14 Issue 3

Print ISSN: 1792-1074
Online ISSN:1792-1082

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Spandidos Publications style
Pounds R, Leonard S, Dawson C and Kehoe S: Repurposing itraconazole for the treatment of cancer (Review). Oncol Lett 14: 2587-2597, 2017
APA
Pounds, R., Leonard, S., Dawson, C., & Kehoe, S. (2017). Repurposing itraconazole for the treatment of cancer (Review). Oncology Letters, 14, 2587-2597. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6569
MLA
Pounds, R., Leonard, S., Dawson, C., Kehoe, S."Repurposing itraconazole for the treatment of cancer (Review)". Oncology Letters 14.3 (2017): 2587-2597.
Chicago
Pounds, R., Leonard, S., Dawson, C., Kehoe, S."Repurposing itraconazole for the treatment of cancer (Review)". Oncology Letters 14, no. 3 (2017): 2587-2597. https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2017.6569