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It highlights persistent safety concerns from off-target effects and the low probability of approvals for novel drugs under rising research costs. Repurposing established drugs is presented as a faster, less expensive alternative with safety benefits, while combination interactions, obstacles, and factors limiting efficacy are discussed.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/old-drugs-new-challenges-reassigning-drugs-for-cancer-therapies-mini-review/371297/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/old-drugs-new-challenges-reassigning-drugs-for-cancer-therapies-mini-review/371297.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Ezra","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-09-23",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why do current cancer therapies still fall short?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Current options are often insufficient due to the complexity and intrinsic polygenicity of neoplastic diseases, which cannot be solved by targeting a single molecular pathway. Treatment frequently needs multimodal combinations tailored to patient and cancer type.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What main safety and development barriers affect new antitumor drugs?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Antitumor therapies are limited by off-target effects and prolonged use issues such as modified tumor occurrences, resistance, and promotion of cancer stem cells. New drug development also faces low approval likelihood despite increased R&D investment.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does drug repurposing offer an alternative, and what must be tested?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Repurposing old drugs can be faster and less costly than developing new drugs, with safety concerns already better characterized. The review notes that interactions with other drugs in combination therapies should be tested to ensure effectiveness and safety.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},371297,1791300417,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":56,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},1099514068035,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Czechowicz et al.  \nCellular & Molecular Biology Letters (2025) 30:27 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s11658-025-00710-0](https://doi.org/10.1186/s11658-025-00710-0)  \nCellular & Molecular Biology Letters  \nMINI REVIEW Open Access  \nOld drugs, new challenges: reassigning drugs for cancer therapies  \nPaulina Czechowicz1, Anna Więch‑Walów1, Jakub Sławski1, James F. Collawn2 and Rafal Bartoszewski 1*  \n*Correspondence: [rafal.bartoszewski@uwr.edu.pl](rafal.bartoszewski@uwr.edu.pl)  \n1 Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Wroclaw, F. Joliot‑Curie 14a Street, 50‑383 Wroclaw, Poland  \n2 Department of Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA  \nAbstract  \nThe \"War on Cancer\" began with the National Cancer Act of 1971 and despite more than 50 years of effort and numerous successes, there still remains much more work to be done. The major challenge remains the complexity and intrinsic polygenicity of neoplastic diseases. Furthermore, the safety of the antitumor therapies still remains a concern given their often off‑target effects. Although the amount of money invested in research and development required to introduce a novel FDA‑approved drug has continuously increased, the likelihood for a new cancer drug’s approval remains limited. One interesting alternative approach, however, is the idea of repurposing of old drugs, which is both faster and less costly than developing new drugs. Repur‑ posed drugs have the potential to address the shortage of new drugs with the added benefit that the safety concerns are already established. That being said, their interac‑ tions with other new drugs in combination therapies, however, should be tested. In this review, we discuss the history of repurposed drugs, some successes and failures, as well as the multiple challenges and obstacles that need to be addressed in order to enhance repurposed drugs’ potential for new cancer therapies.  \nKeywords: Drug discovery, Drug repurposing, Cancer, Off‑label use, Pharmaceutical development  \nIntroduction  \nDespite decades of ongoing efforts in the war against cancer, current therapeutic options often remain insufficient [1, 2]. The unresolved challenge is the complexity and intrinsic polygenicity of neoplastic diseases, which cannot be addressed by targeting a single molecular target. A combination of different treatment modalities is usually required to achieve optimal outcomes that often depend on the individual patient and cancer type. The development of effective and sophisticated treatment strategies is currently fueled by rapid progress in basic biomedical research as well as the evolution of surgical, radiotherapeutic, and immunological approaches.  \nNevertheless, the safe application of antitumor drugs is limited by the off-target effects of most current drug strategies. Additionally, their prolonged use can result in modified tumor occurrences and resistance, as well as their ability to promote cancer stem cells [3]. Furthermore, with the acknowledgment of inter-and intra-tumoral heterogeneity  \n© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the mate‑ rial. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://](http://)[ ](http://)[creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.","cbCaio9bI30b6KDr","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaio9bI30b6KDr","pdf",1053431,"English","# Introduction\n# Challenges in current cancer therapies\n# Off-target effects and resistance\n# Repurposing old drugs for new cancer treatments\n# Risks and obstacles in drug repurposing\n# Toward improved repurposed-drug strategies","[{\"question\":\"Why do current cancer therapies still fall short?\",\"answer\":\"Current options are often insufficient due to the complexity and intrinsic polygenicity of neoplastic diseases, which cannot be solved by targeting a single molecular pathway. Treatment frequently needs multimodal combinations tailored to patient and cancer type.\"},{\"question\":\"What main safety and development barriers affect new antitumor drugs?\",\"answer\":\"Antitumor therapies are limited by off-target effects and prolonged use issues such as modified tumor occurrences, resistance, and promotion of cancer stem cells. New drug development also faces low approval likelihood despite increased R\\u0026D investment.\"},{\"question\":\"How does drug repurposing offer an alternative, and what must be tested?\",\"answer\":\"Repurposing old drugs can be faster and less costly than developing new drugs, with safety concerns already better characterized. The review notes that interactions with other drugs in combination therapies should be tested to ensure effectiveness and safety.\"}]","Old drugs, new challenges - reassigning drugs for cancer therapies - Mini Review | PDF",1790191731,48]