A series of novel thiosemicarbazone derivatives bearing condensed heterocyclic carboxaldehyde moieties were designed and synthesized. Among them, TSC24 exhibited broad antiproliferative activity in a panel of human tumor cells and suppressed tumor growth in mice. The mechanism research revealed that TSC24 was not only an iron chelator but also a topoisomerase IIα catalytic inhibitor. Its inhibition on topoisomerase IIα was due to ...