In collaboration with colleagues from Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, we contributed to the development of a new series of pyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines with potent anticancer properties. The most promising compound exhibited strong cytotoxic activity across a panel of tumor cell lines and effectively inhibited topoisomerase IIα, a key regulator of DNA replication. Detailed experiments demonstrated that the compound induces DNA damage, triggers S-phase cell-cycle arrest, and subsequently promotes apoptosis in leukemic cells. These findings indicate that the series represents a promising starting point for the further development of novel anticancer agents. The study was published in the journal Pharmaceuticals.