Ricerc@Sapienza

Abstract: Background: In recent years, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been investigated at high-dose
tomodulate tumormicroenvironment acidification thus restoring chemotherapeutic sensitivity. This is the
first trial to study activity and safety of repurposing high dose rabeprazole combined with metronomic
capecitabine (mCAP). Methods: A phase II study in which patients with gastrointestinal cancer,
refractory to standard treatments, who had a life expectancy >3 months, were blind randomized

The very limited time allowed to face the COVID-19 pandemic poses a pressing challenge to find proper therapeutic approaches. However, synthesis and full investigation from preclinical studies to phase III trials of new medications is a time-consuming procedure, and not viable in a global emergency, such as the one we are facing.

Pancreatic cancer (PC) is one of the deadliest carcinomas and in most cases, which are diagnosed with
locally advanced or metastatic disease, current therapeutic options are highly unsatisfactory. Based on the
anti-proliferative effects shown by nitroxoline, an old urinary antibacterial agent, we explored a large
library of newly synthesised derivatives to unravel the importance of the OH moiety and pyridine ring of
the parent compound. The new derivatives showed a valuable anti-proliferative effect and some displayed