The discovery of new metal-based antitumour drugs, whether cisplatin derivatives or those based on
other metals, has been largely based on cell viability assays (IC50 values) and compounds that bind to
DNA. This approach has been applied for more than 30 years during which time very few new drugs
have entered clinical use. In this article we discuss what the future holds for metal-based drugs, in
particular anti-metastasis drugs, in these enlightened times of the post genomic era.
