Halogen-based quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives as MCF-7 breast cancer inhibitors: Current developments and structure-activity relationship.

Currently, cancer is a serious health challenge with predominance beyond restrictions. Breast cancer remains one of the major contributors to cancer-related morbidity and mortality in women. Chemotherapy continues to be crucial in the treatment of all variants of cancer. Several antitumor drugs are presently in different phases of clinical trials, whereas many more have been approved for clinical use. However, these drugs have the potential to cause adverse effects, and certain individuals may become resistant to them, which would eventually reduce the drug's efficacy. Therefore, it is essential to discover, develop, and improve newer anticancer drug molecules that could potentially inhibit proliferative pathways. In recent years, quinazolinone derivatives, more specifically halogen-substituted 4(3H)-quinazolinone, have drawn attention as a promising new class of chemotherapeutic agents. In addition, these molecules showed significant inhibition in micromolar ranges when tested in vitro against the MCF-7 cell line. Therefore, this study aims to emphasize the intriguing versatility of halogen atoms, providing an in-depth summary and highlighting recent developments in the anticancer properties of halogenated 4(3H)-quinazolinones. It also features a detailed discussion of the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of various functional groups and their interaction with amino acid residues utilizing molecular docking studies. The intent is to foster novel discoveries that can inspire innovative investigations in this domain. Hence, this study simplifies the drug design and development strategies by prolonging the array of pharmacologically active candidates.