Advancing Cancer Therapy with Copper/Disulfiram Nanomedicines and Drug Delivery Systems

Xuejia Kang; Sanika Jadhav; Manjusha Annaji; Chung-Hui Huang; Rajesh Amin; Jianzhong Shen; Charles R. Ashby; Amit K. Tiwari; R. Jayachandra Babu; Pengyu Chen

doi:10.3390/pharmaceutics15061567

Pharmaceutics (May 2023)

Advancing Cancer Therapy with Copper/Disulfiram Nanomedicines and Drug Delivery Systems

Xuejia Kang,
Sanika Jadhav,
Manjusha Annaji,
Chung-Hui Huang,
Rajesh Amin,
Jianzhong Shen,
Charles R. Ashby,
Amit K. Tiwari,
R. Jayachandra Babu,
Pengyu Chen

Affiliations

Xuejia Kang: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Sanika Jadhav: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
Manjusha Annaji: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Chung-Hui Huang: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Rajesh Amin: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Jianzhong Shen: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Charles R. Ashby: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, St. John’s University, Queens, NY 11431, USA
Amit K. Tiwari: Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43614, USA
R. Jayachandra Babu: Department of Drug Discovery and Development, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA
Pengyu Chen: Materials Research and Education Center, Materials Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics15061567
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 15, no. 6
p. 1567

Abstract

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Disulfiram (DSF) is a thiocarbamate based drug that has been approved for treating alcoholism for over 60 years. Preclinical studies have shown that DSF has anticancer efficacy, and its supplementation with copper (CuII) significantly potentiates the efficacy of DSF. However, the results of clinical trials have not yielded promising results. The elucidation of the anticancer mechanisms of DSF/Cu (II) will be beneficial in repurposing DSF as a new treatment for certain types of cancer. DSF’s anticancer mechanism is primarily due to its generating reactive oxygen species, inhibiting aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity inhibition, and decreasing the levels of transcriptional proteins. DSF also shows inhibitory effects in cancer cell proliferation, the self-renewal of cancer stem cells (CSCs), angiogenesis, drug resistance, and suppresses cancer cell metastasis. This review also discusses current drug delivery strategies for DSF alone diethyldithocarbamate (DDC), Cu (II) and DSF/Cu (II), and the efficacious component Diethyldithiocarbamate–copper complex (CuET).

Published in Pharmaceutics

ISSN: 1999-4923 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Pharmacy and materia medica
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/pharmaceutics/

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Abstract

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