PROTEASOME INHIBITORS FOR USE IN MULTIPLE MYELOMA

The approval of first-in-class proteasome inhibitor bortezomib in 2003, made possible the therapeutic validation of proteasome as a target for use in discovery and development of new treatment options in cancer, particularly haematological conditions like Multiple Myeloma. However, this breakthrough drug discovery suffered from a few limitations. As a result, the discovery of bortezomib not only introduced to the pharmaceutical research community a new area but also provided the impetus to work for a better future. The result was the recent approval of carfilzomib for use in relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma which revived the lagging area again and brought an upsurge in the area of research and development for second generation proteasome inhibitors directed towards this therapy. Here, we present a review on these second generation proteasome inhibitors currently in clinical or preclinical phase and try to assess the future for multiple myeloma therapy.