Hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal disease with limited
therapeutic options and a particularly poor prognosis. Aberrant fibroblast
growth factor 19 (FGF19) signaling through fibroblast growth factor
receptor 4 (FGFR4) has been identified as an oncogenic driver for
a subset of patients with HCC. FGFR4 is therefore a promising target
for the treatment of HCC harboring aberrant FGF19-FGFR4 signaling,
and several FGFR4 inhibitors have advanced to clinical trial. In this
review, we summarize the latest developments in FGFR4 inhibitors,
including the known pharmacophores, their binding mode, selectivity,
and clinical implications, as well as the optimization strategy of
introducing an acrylamide into a known pan-FGFR inhibitor targeting
Cys552 of FGFR4 to provide selective covalent FGFR4 inhibitors.
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