Abstract

Resistance to apoptosis is one of the fundamental hallmarks of cancer. Recently, the selective induction of apoptosis in cancer cells has emerged as an exciting possibility for the development of future selective cancer therapy. This review will summarise the development of the major classes of small molecule “pro-apoptotic” antitumour agents.

Keywords: Pro-apoptotic cancer therapy, selective antitumour agents, apoptosis, small molecules, mitochondria-targeting, Xlinked inhibitor of apoptosis (XIAP), B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), aerobic glycolysis