Therapeutic potential and molecular mechanisms of mycophenolic acid as an anticancer agent

Mycophenolic acid (MPA) is the active metabolite of mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), an immunosuppressive drug approved for the prophylaxis of allograft rejection in transplant recipients. Recent advances in the role of the type II isoform of inosine-5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH2) in the tumorigenesis of various types of cancer have called for a second look of MPA, the first IMPDH2 inhibitor discovered a hundred years ago, to be repurposed as an anticancer agent. Over a half century, a number of in vitro and in vivo experiments have consistently shown anticancer activity of MPA against several cell lines obtained from different malignancies and murine models. However, a few clinical trials have been conducted to investigate its anticancer activity in humans, and most of which have shown unsatisfactory results. Understanding of available evidence and underlying mechanism of action is a key step to be done so as to facilitate further investigations of MPA to reach its full therapeutic potential as an anticancer agent. This article provides a comprehensive review of non-clinical and clinical evidence available to date, with the emphasis on the molecular mechanism of action in which MPA exerts its anticancer activities: induction of apoptosis, induction of cell cycle arrest, and alteration of tumor microenvironment. Future perspective for further development of MPA to be an anticancer agent is extensively discussed, with the aim of translating the anticancer property of MPA from bench to bedside.