Current Scenario of Sulfonamide Hybrids with Anti-Breast Cancer Therapeutic Applications: I. Sulfonamide-Five-Membered Heterocycle Hybrids

Breast cancer, an epithelial malignant tumor that occurs in the terminal ducts of the breast, represents the most prevalent malignancy in women, with over 2 million new diagnoses annually throughout the world. Chemotherapy remains a mainstay in breast cancer therapy, but drug resistance and severe side effects are the major causes for treatment failure. Sulfonamides could act on diverse proteins, enzymes, and receptors and demonstrated promising anti-breast cancer potential. In particular, sulfonamide hybrids have the potential to overcome drug resistance and reduce the side effects since hybrid molecules could act on dual/multiple targets simultaneously. This review focuses on the anti-breast cancer activity, structure-activity relationships, and mechanisms of action of sulfonamide-five-membered heterocycle hybrids, including sulfonamide-azole hybrids, sulfonamide-7-azaindole/indole/oxindole/indoline hybrids, sulfonamide-furan hybrids, and sulfonamide-thiophene hybrids, covering articles published from 2020 to present, to open new avenues for the exploration of novel more effective and multitargeted candidates.