Speaker
Description
Most of the compounds tested for anticancer properties act as cytotoxic agents and vast majority of studies focus on evaluation their influence on primary tumors. However, the biggest problem in the treatment of cancer is the development of metastases. It is estimated that over 90% of deaths due to cancer are associated with metastases. Combating metastasis formation and growth is the key to successfully treating cancer and traditional growth control approaches are inadequate. It is believed that an essential precondition for successful clinical development requires targeting the correct portions of the metastatic cascade.
For many years the coordinatively saturated polypyridyl Ru(II) complexes were investigated as potential anticancer agents and in vitro studies were focused on their cytotoxic activity. In our studies we have showed that in addition to cytotoxic properties Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes had an impact on cancer cell detachment, migration and adhesion as well as on endothelial cell angiogenesis.[2-4] Based on these findings we made a hypothesis that this group of ruthenium complexes might be a good candidate for searching effective anti-metastatic agents. The modification of the tumor microenvironment by ruthenium polypyridyl complexes will be discussed.
Acknowledgements
Financial support from the National Science Center (DEC-2016/21/B/NZ7/01081) is acknowledged.
