Wellington, Kevin W2017-05-162017-05-162015-02Wellington, KW. 2015. Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review. RSC Advances, vol. 26(5): 20309-20338. doi: 10.1039/C4RA13547D2046-2069http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2015/ra/c4ra13547d/unauth#!divAbstract10.1039/C4RA13547Dhttp://hdl.handle.net/10204/9035© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2015The non-communicable disease, cancer, is one of the major causes of death across the world and is forecast to increase by 75% to reach close to 25 million cases over the next two decades. Radiotherapy and surgical approaches have been unsuccessful in controlling the incidence of most cancers. The development of chemotherapeutic strategies involving novel small molecule antitumour agents has therefore been the focus area of cancer chemotherapy for several decades as another strategy to combat and control the incidence of cancer. Many natural products as well as several synthetic drugs have a naphthoquinone chromophore. The anticancer activities of naphthoquinones have been the focus of much research to discover novel anticancer agents. The naturally occurring 1,2-naphthoquinone-based compound, ß-lapachone (ARQ 761), is currently being assessed for its anti-tumour activity against advanced solid tumours. This review describes the most recent applications of naphthoquinones and their derivatives in cancer drug discovery. The biology relevant to the design of novel naphthoquinone anticancer agents is also discussed. Furthermore, the discussion of the biology will contribute to understanding cancer as well as the applications of naphthoquinones as anticancer agents.enCC0 1.0 UniversalCancerNaphthoquinone chromophoreCancer drug discoveriesArticleWellington, K. W. (2015). Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9035Wellington, Kevin W "Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review." (2015) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9035Wellington KW. Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review. 2015; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9035.TY - Article AU - Wellington, Kevin W AB - The non-communicable disease, cancer, is one of the major causes of death across the world and is forecast to increase by 75% to reach close to 25 million cases over the next two decades. Radiotherapy and surgical approaches have been unsuccessful in controlling the incidence of most cancers. The development of chemotherapeutic strategies involving novel small molecule antitumour agents has therefore been the focus area of cancer chemotherapy for several decades as another strategy to combat and control the incidence of cancer. Many natural products as well as several synthetic drugs have a naphthoquinone chromophore. The anticancer activities of naphthoquinones have been the focus of much research to discover novel anticancer agents. The naturally occurring 1,2-naphthoquinone-based compound, ß-lapachone (ARQ 761), is currently being assessed for its anti-tumour activity against advanced solid tumours. This review describes the most recent applications of naphthoquinones and their derivatives in cancer drug discovery. The biology relevant to the design of novel naphthoquinone anticancer agents is also discussed. Furthermore, the discussion of the biology will contribute to understanding cancer as well as the applications of naphthoquinones as anticancer agents. DA - 2015-02 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Cancer KW - Naphthoquinone chromophore KW - Cancer drug discoveries LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2015 SM - 2046-2069 T1 - Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review TI - Understanding cancer and the anticancer activities of naphthoquinones – a review UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/9035 ER -