A Small Sugar Molecule with Huge Potential in Targeted Cancer Therapy

Abstract

The number of cancer-related diseases is still growing. Despite the availability of a large number of anticancer drugs, the ideal drug is still being sought that would be effective, selective, and overcome the effect of multidrug resistance. Therefore, researchers are still looking for ways to improve the properties of already-used chemotherapeutics. One of the possibilities is the development of targeted therapies. The use of prodrugs that release the bioactive substance only under the influence of factors characteristic of the tumor microenvironment makes it possible to deliver the drug precisely to the cancer cells. Obtaining such compounds is possible by coupling a therapeutic agent with a ligand targeting receptors, to which the attached ligand shows affinity and is overexpressed in cancer cells. Another way is to encapsulate the drug in a carrier that is stable in physiological conditions and sensitive to conditions of the tumor microenvironment. Such a carrier can be directed by attaching to it a ligand recognized by receptors typical of tumor cells. Sugars seem to be ideal ligands for obtaining prodrugs targeted at receptors overexpressed in cancer cells. They can also be ligands modifying polymers’ drug carriers. Furthermore, polysaccharides can act as selective nanocarriers for numerous chemotherapeutics. The proof of this thesis is the huge number of papers devoted to their use for modification or targeted transport of anticancer compounds. In this work, selected examples of broad-defined sugars application for improving the properties of both already-used drugs and substances exhibiting anticancer activity are presented.

Targeting Pivotal Hallmarks of Cancer for Enhanced Therapeutic Strategies in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Treatment—In Vitro, In Vivo and Clinical Trials Literature Review

“…GLUT-1 overexpression has also been linked to increased metastatic potential and aggressiveness of the tumor, allowing it to spread to adjacent tissues as well as the remote ones, thereby creating a new focus of the disease [38]. Given that the specified transmembrane transporter can bind not only to glucose but also to galactose, mannose, glucosamine, or ascorbic acid [39], insofar as sugar-binding drugs are considered, it is widely studied as a potential targeted therapy to battle cancer, which will be evaluated in this paragraph.…”

Base‐Promoted Glycosylation Allows Protecting Group‐Free and Stereoselective O‐Glycosylation of Carboxylic Acids**

“…Nature has long utilized glycosylation as a powerful tool [1] to modify the physical and biological properties of various compounds. This effective strategy [2] has been adopted by scientists as well. Among various targets to be glycosylated, carboxylic acids are of significance.…”