Identification and pre-clinical testing of a reversible cathepsin protease inhibitor reveals anti-tumor efficacy in a pancreatic cancer model.

Proteolytic activity is required for several key processes in cancer development and progression, including tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. Accordingly, high levels of protease expression and activity have been found to correlate with malignant progression and poor patient prognosis in a wide variety of human cancers. Members of the papain family of cysteine cathepsins are among the protease classes that have been functionally implicated in cancer.