Thiazolidinediones as anti-cancer agents.

The PPAR-gamma (PPAR-γ) activating thiazolidinedione (TZD) medications are a class of drugs used to improve lipid and glucose metabolism in type-2 diabetes. In addition to their known insulin sensitization action, these drugs have been shown to suppress tumor development in several in vitro and in vivo models. Among the proposed mechanisms for the anti-tumor effects of TZDs, apoptosis induction, cell cycle arrest, and differentiation have been extensively reported. Interestingly, some of the observed anti-tumor effects are independent of PPAR-γ activation. The following review will discuss studies employing TZDs as anti-cancer therapies for the most common types of cancers including, lung, breast, and colon and will explore the principal PPAR-γ-dependent and -independent mechanisms by which TZDs exert their anti-tumor effects.