Description

Application and audience

Recently, steroid sulfatase (STS) inhibitors have become promising drug candidates in the treatment of a wide spectrum of tumors. Cancer diseases are a critical medical problem - according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer and European Commission estimates in 2018, globally there were more than 18 million new cases (3 million in the European Union [EU]) and 9.5 million cancer-related deaths (1.4 million in the EU), which indicates that tumors are among the leading causes of death worldwide.

Innovative aspects and main features

The hormone biosynthesis pathway is a well-established target for the development of hormone-dependent cancer drugs. Anticancer therapies currently used often turn out to be unsatisfactory and result in the development of resistance, leading to relapses in tumor progression (e.g. in case of therapies based on aromatase inhibitors). In light of recent research STS is becoming a new interesting molecular target in the development of novel and effective hormone-dependent cancer treatment methods. In contrast to aromatase, the STS activity is present in most cancer cases (e.g. STS expression is detected in 90% of breast tumors). Furthermore, it has been noticed that STS mRNA levels in malignant tissues were higher than in normal breast tissues in 87% of tested patients.