Steroid sulphatase inhibitors

A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent and a ring system compound present in a pharmaceutically effective amount;

• wherein the ring system compound has a ring system and a sulphamate group of the formula:
• wherein each of R1 and R2 is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl and aryl, and at least one of R1 and R2 is II;
• wherein the ring system has at least three rings, wherein at least two of those rings are fused;
• wherein said compound is an inhibitor of an enzyme having steroid sulphatase activity (EC 3.1.6.2);
• and
• wherein when the sulphamate group of said compound is replaced with a sulphate group to form a sulphate compound it provides a substrate for a steroid sulphatase enzyme (EC 3.1.6.2);
• and
• wherein when the sulphamate group of said compound is replaced with a sulphate group to form a sulphate compound and incubated with a steroid sulphatase enzyme (EC 3.1.6.2) at a pH of 7.4 and 37° C. it provides a Km value of less than 50 μM.

A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent and a ring system compound present in a pharmaceutically effective amount;

• wherein the ring system compound has a steroidal ring structure and a sulphamate group of the formula:
• wherein each of R1 and R2 is independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl and aryl, and at least one of R1 and R2 is H;
• wherein said compound is an inhibitor of an enzyme having steroid sulphatase activity (EC 3.1.6.2);
• and
• wherein when the sulphamate group of said compound is replaced with a sulphate group to form a sulphate compound it provides a substrate for a steroid sulphatase enzyme (EC 3.1.6.2);
• and
• wherein when the sulphamate group of said compound is replaced with a sulphate group to form a sulphate compound and incubated with a steroid sulphatase enzyme (EC 3.1.6.2) at a pH of 7.4 and 37° C. it provides a Km value of less than 50 μM.