N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been introduced as a new platform for the development of anticancer metal complexes for several decades. NHCs as strong σ-donors can coordinate firmly with different noble metals, thereby giving rise to many types of metal NHC complexes. Among them, platinum NHC complexes are regarded as the direct descendants of cisplatin as they have the same central metal ions. Inspiringly, platinum NHC complexes showed comparable activities as cisplatin in many human cancer cell lines while maintaining their activity in cisplatin-resistant cell lines. This lies in the fact that platinum NHC complexes can elicit different mechanisms of action other than those known for conventional platinum complexes. Additionally, platinum NHC complexes were recently reported to elicit biochemical hallmarks of immunogenic cell death (ICD) as a type II ICD inducer. Herein, platinum NHC complexes are categorized according to their structural features, and their anticancer activities are also discussed in detail. Meanwhile, other types of carbene structures are introduced that may be able to be used as platforms for the next generation of platinum NHC complexes.

N- 几十年来，杂环卡宾 (NHC) 已被用作开发抗癌金属配合物的新平台。NHCs作为强σ-供体可以与不同的贵金属牢固地配位，从而产生多种金属NHC配合物。其中，铂NHC配合物具有相同的中心金属离子，被认为是顺铂的直系后裔。令人鼓舞的是，铂 NHC 复合物在许多人类癌细胞系中显示出与顺铂相当的活性，同时在顺铂耐药细胞系中保持其活性。这是因为铂 NHC 配合物可以引发不同于传统铂配合物已知的作用机制。此外，最近有报道称，铂 NHC 复合物作为 II 型 ICD 诱导剂可引发免疫原性细胞死亡 (ICD) 的生化标志。在此，铂 NHC 配合物根据其结构特征进行分类，并详细讨论了它们的抗癌活性。同时，引入了其他类型的卡宾结构，它们可能能够用作下一代铂 NHC 配合物的平台。