Leflunomide: A promising drug with good antitumor potential

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2018 Feb 5;496(2):726-730. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.01.107.

Abstract

Leflunomide, an inhibitor of dihydroorotase dehydrogenase and thereby pyrimidine synthesis, was approved for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in 1998. During the following years, leflunomide was used in various preclinical studies as a potential cancer treatment; at the same time, more mechanisms underlying the anticancer effect of leflunomide were identified. Thus, leflunomide has been identified as a potent anticancer drug. This article summarizes the mechanisms as well as results of leflunomide in the evolving field of cancer therapy.

Keywords: A771726; Anticancer drug; Leflunomide; Teriflunomide; Therapeutic mechanisms.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / pharmacology
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / pharmacology
  • Enzyme Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Humans
  • Immunologic Factors / pharmacology
  • Immunologic Factors / therapeutic use
  • Isoxazoles / pharmacology
  • Isoxazoles / therapeutic use*
  • Leflunomide
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Neoplasms / pathology
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / drug effects
  • Neoplastic Stem Cells / pathology

Substances

  • Angiogenesis Inhibitors
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Enzyme Inhibitors
  • Immunologic Factors
  • Isoxazoles
  • Leflunomide