ReviewCancer chemotherapy and pharmacology2021
Disulfiram: a novel repurposed drug for cancer therapy.
Review in Cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 152 citations in OpenAlex.
- Randomized Study About Influence of Food on the Pharmacokinetics of Disulfiram Metabolites in Healthy Individuals.European journal of drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics · 2026Trial
- A Phase 1/2 Study of Disulfiram and Copper With Concurrent Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide for Patients With Newly Diagnosed Glioblastoma.International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics · 2024Trial
- Effect of Disulfiram and Copper Plus Chemotherapy vs Chemotherapy Alone on Survival in Patients With Recurrent Glioblastoma: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Anticancer Effects of Fluphenazine Alone and in Combination with Cisplatin in Gastric Cancer Cells and a Mouse Xenograft Model.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Repurposing Disulfiram for Cancer Therapy: Mechanistic Insights and Translational Challenges.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- A Hypoxia-Apoptosis Stress-Adaptation State Defines Immune-Low Melanoma and Predicts Metastatic Risk.Cancers · 2026Article
- Off-label and repurposed use of disulfiram beyond alcohol dependence: A systematic review of clinical and preclinical evidence.iScience · 2026Article
- CuET promotes cuproptosis and ferroptosis of lung cancer cells by interacting directly with polyunsaturated phospholipids.iScience · 2026Article
- Metformin potentiates DSF/Cu-loaded pluronic nanoparticles to improve therapeutic efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer.BMC biotechnology · 2026Article
- Fluvastatin suppresses breast cancer initiation and progression via targeting CYP4Z1.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Glutathione-Responsive Disulfiram Delivery from Thiol-Functionalized N-Doped Carbon Nanodots: An in vitro Proof-of-Concept Study.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Article
- DrugSurvPlot: A Novel Web-Based Platform Harnessing Drug Sensitivity Scores as Molecular Biomarkers for Pan-Cancer Survival Prognosis.Current gene therapy · 2026Article
- Polatuzumab vedotin and CD79B: A study of efficacy in R-CHOP-resistant diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.British journal of haematology · 2025Article
- Metabolic cell deaths in head and neck cancer: mechanisms, therapeutic potential, and challenges.Annals of medicine · 2025Review
- Serine metabolism reprogramming in cancer: a multi-tiered regulatory framework.Acta biochimica et biophysica Sinica · 2025Review
- Engineering Inorganic Nanoparticles to Induce Cuproptosis: A New Strategy for Cancer Therapy.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Targeting cuproptosis in liver cancer: Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic implications.Apoptosis : an international journal on programmed cell death · 2025Review
- A novel HPβCD-Cu(DDC)Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Review
- Targeted Fluoxetine Delivery Using Folic Acid-Modified PLGA Nanoparticles for Selective Uptake by Glioblastoma Cells.Pharmaceutics · 2025Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cancer is a major health issue worldwide and the global burden of cancer is expected to reduce the costs of treatment as well as prolong the survival time. One of the promising approaches is drug repurposing, because it reduces costs and shortens the production cycle of research and development. Disulfiram (DSF), which was originally approved as an anti-alcoholism drug, has been proven safe and shows the potential to target tumours. Its anti-tumour effect has been reported in many preclinical studies and recently on seven types of cancer in humans: non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), liver cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, pancreatic cancer, glioblastoma (GBM) and melanoma and has a successful breakthrough in the treatment of NSCLC and GBM. The mechanisms, particularly the intracellular signalling pathways, still remain to be completely elucidated. As shown in our previous study, DSF inhibits NF-kB signalling, proteasome activity, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity. It induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy and has been used as an adjuvant therapy with irradiation or chemotherapy drugs. On the other hand, DSF not only kills the normal cancer cells but also has the ability to target cancer stem cells, which provides a new approach to prevent tumour recurrence and metastasis. Furthermore, other researchers have reported the ability of DSF to bind to nuclear protein localization protein 4 (NPL4), induce its immobilization and dysfunction, ultimately leading to cell death. Here, we provide an overview of DSF repurposing as a treatment in preclinical studies and clinical trials, and review studies describing the mechanisms underlying its anti-neoplastic effects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.