Pharmacological Efficacy of Repurposing Drugs in the Treatment of Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Worldwide, prostate cancer (PC) is the second most frequent cancer among men and the fifth leading cause of death; moreover, standard treatments for PC have several issues, such as side effects and mechanisms of resistance. Thus, it is urgent to find drugs that can fill these gaps, and instead of developing new molecules requiring high financial and time investments, it would be useful to select non-cancer approved drugs that have mechanisms of action that could help in PC treatment, a process known as repurposing drugs. In this review article, drugs that have potential pharmacological efficacy are compiled to be repurposed for PC treatment. Thus, these drugs will be presented in the form of pharmacotherapeutic groups, such as antidyslipidemic drugs, antidiabetic drugs, antiparasitic drugs, antiarrhythmic drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibacterial drugs, antiviral drugs, antidepressant drugs, antihypertensive drugs, antifungal drugs, immunosuppressant drugs, antipsychotic drugs, antiepileptic and anticonvulsant drugs, bisphosphonates and drugs for alcoholism, among others, and we will discuss their mechanisms of action in PC treatment.

Repurposing of Chronically Used Drugs in Cancer Therapy: A Chance to Grasp

“…However, a comprehensive review of data on the role of some anti-hypertensive drug classes in promoting the development of tumors highlights the considerable difficulty of deriving reliable evidence in this setting [ 60 ]. While some studies reported the neutral or negative effect of some anti-hypertensive drugs on cancer development [ 61 , 62 ], others provide beneficial effects to either reduction of cancer risks or as promising therapeutics for some human malignancies alone or combined with chemotherapeutic agents [ 63 , 64 , 65 ]. For instance, diuretics correlate with a higher incidence of liver cancer and lymphoid/hematopoietic tissue cancer development and a lower incidence of prostate and skin cancer [ 66 ].…”

Entecavir: A Review and Considerations for Its Application in Oncology

“…Interestingly, ETV, beyond its antiviral activity, acts as an inhibitor of KDM5B; therefore, it has the potential to become a valuable drug in the fight against cancer, so ETV can be repurposed, as demonstrated in silico studies [21]. Since drug repurposing is an approach that involves identifying and developing new therapeutic indications for existing drugs, particularly in the field of oncology, this approach focuses on selecting non-anticancer drugs that, when used as a monotherapy or in combination with an anticancer agent, display therapeutic effects in treating cancer [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”

“…Drug repurposing offers several advantages, such as the existing knowledge about the drug, including its mechanisms of action, molecular targets, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties, dosage, adverse effects, toxicological and pharmacovigilance data, safety information, production, and manufacturing methods, as well as insights from clinical trials and previous clinical use for original therapeutic indications. This allows the utilization of an existing drug, bypassing the need to search for new molecules and develop entirely new molecules, which could take several years until being commercialized [39,41,46]. As a result, the costs associated with researching these drugs are reduced, as the time required for the regulatory approval of the new therapeutic indication is significantly shortened [40,41,46].…”

“…This allows the utilization of an existing drug, bypassing the need to search for new molecules and develop entirely new molecules, which could take several years until being commercialized [39,41,46]. As a result, the costs associated with researching these drugs are reduced, as the time required for the regulatory approval of the new therapeutic indication is significantly shortened [40,41,46]. Another advantage is the widespread availability of these drugs, with many of them included in the WHO List of Essential Medicines [41].…”

“…Moreover, the use of non-anticancer repurposed drugs for cancer treatment may decrease the adverse effects often associated with most anticancer medications, thereby enhancing the cancer patients' quality of life [39], and, as the literature suggests, using repurposed drugs in combination therapies triggers a synergistic effect, enabling the reduction of individual drug concentrations while optimizing the therapy and increasing its success rate. Consequently, due to the different mechanisms of action within combination therapies, it becomes possible to minimize/delay the development of treatment resistance [41,46,47].…”