oa Editorial [ Hot Topic :Recent Developments in the Discovery of Anticancer Agents (Guest Editors: Ahmed Kamal and Y.V.D.Nageswar)]

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the world and as a result there is a pressing need for the development of novel and effective treatments. Cancer cells differ from their normal counterparts in a number of biochemical processes, particularly during the control of cell growth and division. Despite major breakthroughs in many areas of modern medicine over the past 100 years, the successful treatment of cancer remains a significant challenge at the start of the 21st century. Mainly because it is difficult to discover novel agents that selectively kill tumor cells or inhibit their proliferation without the general toxicity, therefore the use of traditional cancer chemotherapy is still very intense. In recent years, combination chemotherapy with different mechanisms of action is one of the methods that is being adopted to treat cancer. Therefore, a single molecule containing more than one pharmacophore, each with different mode of action could be beneficial for the treatment of cancer. Apoptosis or programmed cell death is an orderly cascade that can be regulated and ultimately results in the death of a cell in a neat and orderly manner. Recently anticancer efficacy of various chemotherapeutic agents has been correlated with their apoptosis inducing ability. Therefore identification of new molecules that induce apoptosis has become attractive for the discovery and development of novel anticancer agents. Microtubules are important in mitosis and cell division; they have been a target for the development of a number of new anticancer drugs. There are two major groups of these antitumor agents, microtubule stabilizers such as paclitaxel and microtubule destabilizers such as colchicine, combretastatin A-4, and vinca alkaloids. Natural products and synthetic organic cations that bind specifically and selectively to the DNA minor groove have therapeutic potential in a wide range of applications. These compounds bind to minor groove by a combination of ionic, hydrophobic and hydrogen bonding interaction. A significant number of papers, institutions and countries contribute to this special issue: the articles are mainly original articles, but some of them are devoted to new results and the related methods obtained/developed by the respective authors, who belong to prestigious research institutions in their field of medicinal chemistry. In total, 51 authors from 7 research institutions/universities located in 6 countries contributed to this special issue. I hope this special volume of LDDD will provide the reader with an understanding of anticancer research and its progress from the results that have been discussed.