IAP antagonists: promising candidates for cancer therapy

A promising strategy in cancer therapy aims to promote apoptosis in cancer cells. Targeting inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) with small-molecule inhibitors has attracted increasing interest in triggering cancer cell death. It is considered to have great potential for cancer drug discovery because IAPs block apoptosis at the core of the apoptotic machinery and are aberrantly expressed in various tumors. This review focuses on the current development of small-molecule IAP antagonists for cancer therapy.