11 Computational Strategies in Cancer Drug Discovery Gabriela Mustata Wilson 1 and Yagmur Muftuoglu 2 1 Health Services and Health Administration, College of Nursing and Health Professions, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville 2 Department of Pharmacology, Yale University, New Haven USA 1. Introduction Over the last 40 years since “the war on cancer” began, cancer death rates have been significantly declining. Major advances in molecular and cellular biology have led to several breakthroughs in the field of cancer research. One of the most important advances in this area was probably the identification of genes that are closely involved in cancer initiation, progression, invasion, and angiogenesis, particularly those that cause cancer, those that suppress it, and those that promote or inhibit programmed cell death (apoptosis). As a result, the rates of new diagnoses and the rates of death from all cancers combined continue to decline. The National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Trends Report for 2009/2010 highlights the fact that the four most common cancers – of the prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal, specifically – have dropped considerably in the past few years (National Cancer Institute - Cancer Trends Progress Report - 2009/2010). Toward the study and treatment of such cancers, there are 680 genes, 545 proteins and 3 RNAs associated with 102 different types of cancer that have been identified to date (National Cancer Institute - Cancer Trends Progress Report - 2009/2010). Targeting these, a total of 1370 drugs, out of which 1056 are small molecules and 314 are biologics, are either in preclinical or clinical trials or are already FDA approved (National Cancer Institute - Cancer Fig. 1. Small molecule drugs developed for the four most common cancers: prostate, breast, lung, and colorectal. 0 200 Prostate cancer Lung cancer Small Molecule Drugs Small Molecule Drugs www.intechopen.com