The potential anticancer activities of telmisartan – a literature review

Abstract

In the field of pharmacological therapy, due to the high costs and other obstacles encountered in developing novel drugs, a variety of studies have recently focused on repositioning existing pharmaceutical agents. Regarding the pharmacotherapy of cancer, many possible drugs may exhibit anticancer effects owing to the vast number of biological mechanisms involved in the proliferation and survival of malignant cells. Telmisartan, a well-known inhibitor of the angiotensin II receptor used clinically as an antihypertensive, has been shown to target various signaling pathways in cancer cells, therefore exhibiting anti-proliferative, anti-apoptotic and anti-metastatic effects. Moreover, inhibitors of the angiotensin II receptor have been shown to increase the fluidity of the tumor microenvironment, thus increasing the efficacy of chemotherapy as drug delivery to the tumor is enhanced. The present review provides an insight into the different anticancer mechanisms of telmisartan, as well as recent and past studies which have tested the drug in vitro and in vivo on different types of cancers. This may provide a perspective for future clinical trials on repositioning telmisartan as an anti-cancer agent.