Thermoresponsive fluorinated small-molecule drugs: a new concept for efficient localized chemotherapy

Abstract

Hyperthermia is currently being explored as an adjuvant treatment to conventional therapies with chemotherapeutic agents based on thermoresponsive macromolecules. Although the concept of hyperthermia has existed for many years it has yet to become routinely used in the clinical management of cancer. The development of small thermoresponsive molecules could help to change this paradigm. Temperature-sensitive compounds have recently been developed by covalently modifying drug and drug-like molecules with thermomorphic perfluorinated appendages. Lead thermoresponsive compounds have been validated in a pre-clinical model, displaying high tumor growth inhibition, with strong synergies observed between hyperthermia and the thermomorphic compounds.