Quinolone hybrids and their anti-cancer activities: An overview

The global pandemic of drug-sensitive cancers and the increasing threat from drug-resistant cancers make an urgent need to develop more effective anti-cancer candidates. Quinolone derivatives possess promising anti-cancer activity, and some of them have already been approved to treat cancers or under clinical trials. Hybridization of quinolone with other anti-cancer pharmacophores may provide more efficient anti-cancer candidates, so quinolone hybrids worth to be investigated. In this review, the recent advances in the development of novel quinolone hybrids as potential anti-cancer agents are highlighted, and the structure-activity relationship is also discussed to provide an insight for further development of more active quinolone hybrids. This review describes a series of novel quinolone hybrids as potential anti-cancer agents, and the structure-activity relationship is discussed for further development of quinolone hybrids with higher activity. [Display omitted] •Quinolone derivatives possess promising anti-cancer potency, and some have been used in clinics for cancer treatment.•Hybridization of quinolone and pharmacophores with potential anti-cancer activity may provide new anti-cancer agents.•This review covers the recent advances of quinolone hybrids as potential anti-cancer candidates.•The enriched SAR may pave the way to further development of quinolone hybrids with higher efficiency and lower toxicity.