Histone deacetylase inhibitors

Sustained efforts towards identifying novel histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors as suitable therapies for the treatment of cancer and other human diseases has been a goal for the pharmaceutical industry during the last decade. In the second half of 2006 these efforts culminated in the FDA granting approval for the first HDAC inhibitor, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid; also known as vorinostat, for once-daily oral treatment of advanced cutaneous T cell lymphoma. This review provides a summary of the published patent literature from mid-2005 until the end of 2006.