Abstract The potency of a series of Hexamethylene bis-acetamide (HMBA) derivatives inducing Hexamethylene bis-acetamide inducible protein 1 (HEXIM1) was determined in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. Several compounds with unsymmetrical structures showed significantly improved activity. Distinct from HMBA, these analogs have increased hydrophobicity and can improve the short half-life of HMBA, which is one of the factors that ...