Anticancer Drugs for Parkinson's Disease: Is It a Ray of Hope or Only Hype?

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the death of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra. To develop therapeutic strategies to halt or slow the neurodegenerative process, it is imperative that we understand the pathogenesis of PD. With the current state of knowledge, multiple pathological pathways such as oxidative stress, inflammation due to microglial activation, apoptotic pathway activation via Abelson (c-Abl)tyrosine kinase enzyme, and DA toxins have been incriminated in causing DA neuronal death in PD. In the recent times, there is growing evidence of the role of c-Abl nonreceptor tyrosine kinase in the pathogenesis of PD. We give a short account of the potential of c-Abl inhibitors, the currently used anticancer drugs such as nilotinib in preventing the neurodegenerative process in PD.