Exploring the potential of isatin hybrids as anticancer agents: recent advances and future prospective

Abstract

Synthesis of hybrid molecules via molecular hybridization technique has been known to be a promising strategy which involves the blending of two pharmacophoric groups joined via covalent bonds to make a single entity that can serve as chemotherapeutic agents. “Isatin” is an important toolbox for medicinal chemists with high pharmacological profile being known as the “privileged scaffold” in the field of drug development. Various drugs consisting of isatin core have been shown to have pronounced therapeutic effects on several cancers as they have prophylactic role towards free radicals that cause cancer. This report highlights the most recent advances from the past four years in the development of isatin based drugs against several human cancer cell lines such as MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line), A-549 (lung cancer cell line), Hep-G2 (liver cancer cell line) and some other cell lines, respectively.