Emerging Roles of Osmium Complexes in Cancer Therapy, Their Mechanism of Action, Challenges and Future Perspectives

Since cisplatin was discovered and used as an anti-cancer agent in clinical settings, research into cancer treatments has revealed a number of possible drugs based on metal-containing scaffolds. This has produced a large number of metallodrugs suitable for use in medicine. The roles and mechanisms of action of these metallodrugs are more diverse than those of pure organic compounds. Since they demonstrated efficacy against numerous cancer cell lines, metallodrugs based on osmium are among the most researched and produced substitutes for platinum-based anti-cancer drugs. The metal-based drugs are a new, well-developed type of drug in anticancer therapy with specific mechanisms of action that are much different from the organic chemical drugs used in chemotherapy. They have the potential to disrupt cellular processes necessary for the survival and growth of cancer cells since they are able to interact with a variety of biological targets such as DNA, proteins, and enzymes. This review article focuses on the role of Os-complexes in cancer treatment, their mechanism of action, challenges, and future perspectives of Os-complexes in cancer therapy.