Abstract
Implication of the proteasome in human cancer, inflammation, autoimmune and other diseases has prompted design, synthesis and evaluation of various pharmacological proteasome inhibitors. In this review, we will summarise the literature related to human cancer cell death induction by proteasome inhibitors, examine the proteasome inhibitor patents published over the past five years and evaluate the potential clinical applications in the use of proteasome inhibitors for treating cancer and other human diseases.