Medicinal Chemistry of Anticancer Drugs

Cancer is presently responsible for about 25% of deaths in developed countries, and for 15% of all deaths worldwide. It is therefore one of the foremost health problems, with about 1.45 million new cases being expected yearly.

Antitumor chemotherapy is nowadays a very active field of research, and a huge amount of information on the topic is generated every year. There was a clear need for an updated treatment of the subject from the point of view of medicinal chemistry and drug design, which this book aims to provide. The focus of the book is on the mechanism of action of antitumor drugs from the molecular point of view and on the relationship between structure and chemical and biochemical reactivity of antitumor agents. This knowledge leads to the rationalization of drug action and allows the design of new active structures, which can be considered as the primary goal of medicinal chemistry.

This book is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students of medicinal chemistry and their instructors, in courses related both to chemistry or the health sciences. It will also be useful to students of pharmacology or biochemistry courses where a concise overview of the biochemistry of cancer is of interest. It is hoped that the inclusion of over one thousand references to the review and primary literature will also make the book useful for researchers and practitioners of health professions and that it will contribute to fill the gap between basic chemical and biological research in the cancer field and clinical applications of anticancer drugs.

About the Author:
Carmen Avendano and J. Carlos Menendez Departamento de Quimica Organica y Farmaceutica Facultad deFarmacia, Universidad Complutense Madrid, Spain