Apoptosis: An Approach for the Cancer Drug Development

Kaushal K. Chandrul, Rahul Kumar Sharma *

School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur.

*For correspondence: buntyrahul177@gmail.com

Cancer being the second cause of mortality in world, discovery and the development of new
treatments is need of hour. Several classes of chemotherapeutic agents along with radiation and
other therapies have been evovled over a long period of timer. Still cytotoxicity and the drug
resistance remains the major concerns clinincians and the medicinal chemist. Recently it has
been reported that many chemotherapeutics agents induce apopostosis. Apopostosis is well
orchestrated mechanism developed by the eukaryotic organism. It also means cellular cell self
desrtuction or programmed cell death. IT plays a central role in pathogenesis of human disease
including the cancer when the genes controlling it are suppressed, expressed or altered by the
mutation. Cancer associated with accumulation of neoplastic cell due to enhancement of the cell
proliferation or diminish the apoptotic activity or both .Cenrtally, it is commonly accepted that
inhibition of apoptosis play an imporant role in the carcinnogenic process. Many anti-apoptotic
processes lead to abnormal activation of proliferation pathways causing cancer. These facts
makes it relevant to search for better molecule leading to targeted arrest of the cancer either by
blocking anti-apoptotic stimuli and their generators or by including apoptosis or its activators.
Many of current chemotherapeutics agent are designed to inhibit proliferation or induce
apoptosis are often less selective and many result in damage to normal cells limiting their clinical
potencial. Hence selective attack on apoptotic abnormalities in cancerous cell can generate a
potent more selective, pro-apoptotic stimuli leading to destruction of tumor cells. Agents which
increase apoptosis of cancerous cells and protect normal cells may be a boon for treatment of
cancer.