Three groups of non-camptothecin compounds with four to five fused rings have been designed and synthesized. Their in vitro anti-proliferative activity has been evaluated with five different cancer cell lines (HCT116, PC3, U87MG, HepG2, SK-OV-3). Compounds B-2 and B-3 showed the most potent cell growth inhibition with IC50 of 169 nM and 325 nM against U87MG cell line correspondingly.