Published online Feb 21, 2016. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i7.2159
Peer-review started: August 21, 2015
First decision: October 14, 2015
Revised: December 4, 2015
Accepted: December 30, 2015
Article in press: December 30, 2015
Published online: February 21, 2016
Processing time: 163 Days and 9.4 Hours
Colorectal cancer accounts for a significant proportion of cancer deaths worldwide. The need to develop more chemotherapeutic agents to combat this disease is critical. Cyclin dependent kinases (CDKs), along with its binding partner cyclins, serve to control the growth of cells through the cell cycle. A new class of drugs, termed CDK inhibitors, has been studied in preclinical and now clinical trials. These inhibitors are believed to act as an anti-cancer drug by blocking CDKs to block the uncontrolled cellular proliferation that is hallmark of cancers like colorectal cancer. CDK article provides overview of the emerging drug class of CDK inhibitors and provides a list of ones that are currently in clinical trials.
Core tip: This article provides a brief overview of an emerging drug class, cyclin-dependent kinases inhibitors and their potential implications in colorectal cancer treatment.