Recent Studies and Biological Aspects of Substantial Indole Derivatives with Anti-cancer Activity

Background: All cancers are leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The urgent need for new lead compounds for the treatment of cancer is higher than ever before. Scientists search and try to discover effective but less harmful new anti-tumor agents. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation are the bestknown methods for treating cancer, however, they continued to be limited. Rising efforts of the scientists toward success of the drug discovery is increasing. Indole ring is considered as a key molecule existing in various biologically active compounds. Indole derivatives are recognized to prevent proliferation and invasion of many cancer cells. Conclusion: This review presents the existing status and the very recent studies of indoles which have promising activities such as derivatives of indole-3-carbinol, 3,3'-diindolylmethane (DIM), isatin etc. Their chemical and biological behavior as well as a general overview of the anticancer activity is discussed. Keywords: Antioxidant, anticancer, carcinogenesis, DNA mutation, drug development, oxidative stress.