BACKGROUND The development of metallodrugs with potential applications in cancer treatment and diagnosis has been a hot topic since the approval and subsequent marketing of the anticancer drug cisplatin in 1978. Since then, thousands of metal-based derivatives have been reported and evaluated for their chemotherapeutic or tumor imaging properties, but only a very limited number gained clinical status. Nonetheless, research in the field has been increasing exponentially over the years, especially in a view to exploiting novel drug designing approaches and strategies aimed at improving pharmacological outcomes and, at the same time, reducing side-effects. OBJECTIVES This review article reports on the patents filed during the last decade and strictly focusing on the development of metal-based anticancer and diagnostic agents. The goal is to identify the latest trends and designing strategies in the field, which would represent a valuable starting point to researchers interested in the development of metallodrugs. METHODS The most relevant patents filed in the 2010-2020 timeframe have been retrieved from various databases using dedicated search engines (such as SciFinder, Google Patents, PatentPak, Espacenet, Global Dossier, PatentScope), sorted by type of metallodrug and screened to include those reporting a substantial amount of biological data. RESULTS The majority of patents here reviewed are concerned with metallodrugs (mostly platinum- based) showing interesting pharmacological properties but no specific tumor-targeting features. Nonetheless, some promising trends in the development of novel drug delivery strategies and/or metallodrugs with potential applications in targeted chemotherapy are envisaged. CONCLUSION In this review, the latest trends in the development of metallodrugs from recent patents are summarized and critically discussed. Such trends would be of interest not only to the scientific community but also to lay audiences aiming to broaden their knowledge of the field and industrial stakeholders potentially interested in the exploitation and commercialization of this class of pharmaceuticals.

中文翻译：

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作为抗癌化疗剂和诊断剂的金属药物：重要的专利审查 (2010-2020)。

背景 自 1978 年抗癌药物顺铂获批并上市以来，具有潜在癌症治疗和诊断应用价值的金属药物的开发一直是一个热门话题。从那时起，已有数千种金属衍生物被报道并评估了它们的化疗或治疗作用。肿瘤成像特性，但只有非常有限的数量获得了临床地位。尽管如此，该领域的研究多年来一直呈指数级增长，特别是为了开发旨在改善药理学结果并同时减少副作用的新药物设计方法和策略。目标这篇评论文章报告了过去十年申请的专利，并严格关注金属基抗癌剂和诊断剂的开发。目标是确定该领域的最新趋势和设计策略，这对于对金属药物开发感兴趣的研究人员来说是一个有价值的起点。方法 使用专用搜索引擎（如 SciFinder、Google Patents、PatentPak、Espacenet、Global Dossier、PatentScope）从各种数据库中检索 2010-2020 年提交的最相关专利，按金属药物类型分类并筛选以包括那些报告大量生物数据。结果 这里审查的大多数专利都与金属药物（主要是铂基）有关，它们显示出有趣的药理特性，但没有特定的肿瘤靶向特征。尽管如此，设想在开发新的药物递送策略和/或在靶向化疗中具有潜在应用的金属药物方面的一些有希望的趋势。结论 在这篇综述中，总结并批判性地讨论了近期专利中金属药物开发的最新趋势。这种趋势不仅会引起科学界的兴趣，也会引起旨在拓宽该领域知识的普通观众以及可能对此类药物的开发和商业化感兴趣的行业利益相关者。