3-bromopyruvate as a Promising Treatment for Hematological Cancer

Many biological differences exist between cancer cells and normal cells that can act as potential targets in targeted cancer therapy. Hematological cancers e.g. lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma exhibit drug-resistance that ultimately results in deteriorated patients' conditions and high mortality rates. Resistance of hematological malignancy to conventional chemotherapy is attributed in part to upregulation of glucose oxidation (glycolysis) genes evidenced by gaining a promising chemosensitization effect upon adding a glycolysis inhibitor to chemotherapeutics. The promising anticancer agent 3-bromopyruvate (3BP) is a structural analog of both pyruvate and lactate. 3BP was reported to antagonize the Warburg effect (malignant phenotype where cancer cells utilize cytoplasmic glucose oxidation to produce ATP and lactate even in the presence of oxygen without making benefit of the generous ATP provision from glucose oxidation via mitochondrial pathways). Warburg effect deprives cancer cells from the high energetic yield achieved through utilizing mitochondrial pathways. 3BP is a promising antiglycolytic agent that targets major glycolysis enzymes (hexokinase II and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. In this article, 3BP promising anticancer effects in treating lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma are discussed in addition to the mode of inhibition of Warburg effect using 3BP. In conclusion, 3BP is a promising anticancer drug (that will be more powerful upon proper pharmaceutical formulations) for treating hematological malignancies. 3BP is advisable to be included in treatment protocols in hematological cancers as a chemosensitizer or as a sole anticancer agent.