A comprehensive review of salinomycin derivatives as potent anticancer and anti-CSCs agents.

Polyether ionophore antibiotics (ionophores) represent a large group of more than 120 lipid-soluble compounds that are widely used in veterinary medicine because of their significant antimicrobial activity. In addition to the industrial use of ionophores, some of them effectively and selectively inhibit properties of different cancer cells and enhance the antitumor effects of chemo- and/or radiotherapy. Salinomycin (SAL) is particularly interesting in this regard as it shows potent activity against various types of cancer cells, including those that display multi-drug resistance, and cancer stem cells. Therefore, a very interesting direction of research is chemical modification of SAL which may lead to obtaining analogs that are characterized by better biological activity and lower toxicity than those of the starting compound. This review article is focused on the possible role of both SAL-based drug delivery systems and SAL derivatives in future cancer therapy.