Hydantoin derivatives: harnessing antitumor potential and immunomodulation

Abstract

Hydantoin and its newly synthesized derivatives are the focus of research due to their numerous biological activities and emerging beneficial effects in various pathological conditions, including cancer. Their primary clinical use is in the treatment of epilepsy and cardiac arrhythmias, but hydantoin derivatives have also shown significant anti-inflammatory and antitumor potential. One of the most prominent antitumor properties is its high antiproliferative potential in various cancer cell lines. Through various studies over the past decades, different series of hydantoin derivatives have shown antiproliferative activity with varying degrees of apoptosis in cancer cells. Different series of derivatives significantly decreased cell survival and caused a reduction in oxidative stress parameters in treated cells, indicating their significant antioxidant effect. The cell migration index was significantly decreased after treatment with the different hydantoin derivatives, suggesting their inhibitory role in various processes of cancer cell motility and invasion, which are crucial for tumor invasion. An important feature of tumor progression is chronic inflammatory response, propagated by immune cells that activates pro-inflammatory genes and cytokines. A certain hydantoin derivatives reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory genes and pro-inflammatory cytokines related to carcinogenesis and tumor growth, suggesting a significant anti-inflammatory effect of some hydantoin compounds, which could be an additional mechanism of their antitumor effect. The results of various studies show that some of the investigated compounds from different series of synthesis have the potential to be used as new chemotherapeutic agents against the growth and progression of cancer in different tumor types.