Gold Derivatives Development as Prospective Anticancer Drugs for Breast Cancer Treatment

Commonly used anticancer drugs are cisplatin and other platinum-based drugs.However, the use of these drugs in chemotherapy causes numerous side effects and the onset offrequent drug resistance phenomena. This review summarizes the most recent results on the goldderivatives used for their significant inhibitory effects on the in vitro proliferation of breast cancercell models and for the consequences deriving from morphological changes in the same cells. Inparticular, the study discusses the antitumor activity of gold nanoparticles, gold (I) and (III)compounds, gold complexes and carbene-based gold complexes, compared with cisplatin. Theresults of screening studies of cytotoxicity and antitumor activity for the gold derivatives show thatthe death of cancer cells can occur intrinsically by apoptosis. Recent research has shown that gold(III) compounds with square planar geometries, such as that of cisplatin, can intercalate the DNAand provide novel anticancer agents. The gold derivatives described can make an importantcontribution to expanding the knowledge of medicinal bioorganometallic chemistry andbroadening the range of anticancer agents available, offering improved characteristics, such asincreased activity and/or selectivity, and paving the way for further discoveries and applications.