Vanadium complexes as potential anticancer agents

Metals are required for the structure and functioning of biomolecules. Now a days, the main goal of bioinorganic chemistry is the design and synthesis of novel metal-based complexes and metal ion binding substances for the treatment of human diseases. This paper summarizes the anticancer activity of vanadium with different ligands. The potential anticancer activity of vanadium based drugs is one of the area of research in this field. Vanadium is a well-known transition metal and its complexes have received extensive studies for their pharmacological properties. The medicinal properties of vanadium complexes particularly their anticancer activity is a rapidly expanding research field. Vanadium complexes such as VO-salen (N,N’bis(salicylidene)ethylenediamine, Metvan [V^IVO(SO₄)(4,7-Mephen)₂], vanadocene dichloride, vanadium(III)-L-cysteine complexes, vanadium complexes with flavonoids and other polyphenols, semicarbazone derivatives and vanadium Schiff base complexes exhibited anticancer activity. Majority of the reported complexes contain vanadium in +4 and +5 oxidation states. In past it has been established that vanadium in different oxidation states exhibited well-defined geometry and coordination power making them thermodynamically stable. The literature was reviewed and collected from leading indexing database of last 10 years to find the potentiality of vanadium as anticancer agents. The biological potential of vanadium complexes with different ligands open new horizons for future interdisciplinary studies and investigation focussed on understanding the biochemistry of these complexes.