Recent developments of metal N-heterocyclic carbenes as anticancer agents

Abstract Metal based anticancer drugs have demonstrated their crucial role in preventing all types of cancers whereas their effectiveness is selective with respect to the cancer cells rather than the normal cells. Recently metal N-heterocyclic carbenes have established their selective performance for cancer cells excluding normal healthy cells based on which they are widely utilised for targeting cancer cells specifically which leads to cell death or cell growth inhibition. This is mainly due to their ionic character which helps them to localise in cancer cells with the help of enhanced expression of Organic Cation Transporters (OCT). Also their unique mechanism of action involving DNA binding, less recognizable by DNA repair machinery, mitochondria targeting gives them a new area for anticancer drug development. This review summarises the medicinal as well as pharmacological approach to the anticancer properties of metal NHC complexes.