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Review
. 2021 Feb;11(1):5-13.
doi: 10.1007/s13659-020-00293-7. Epub 2021 Jan 3.

Natural Products in Cancer Therapy: Past, Present and Future

Min Huang  1   2 , Jin-Jian Lu  3 , Jian Ding  4   5
Affiliations
Review

Natural Products in Cancer Therapy: Past, Present and Future

Min Huang et al. Nat Prod Bioprospect. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Natural products, with remarkable chemical diversity, have been extensively investigated for their anticancer potential for more than a half-century. The collective efforts of the community have achieved the tremendous advancements, bringing natural products to clinical use and discovering new therapeutic opportunities, yet the challenges remain ahead. With remarkable changes in the landscape of cancer therapy and growing role of cutting-edge technologies, we may have come to a crossroads to revisit the strategies to understand nature products and to explore their therapeutic utility. This review summarizes the key advancements in nature product-centered cancer research and calls for the implementation of systematic approaches, new pharmacological models, and exploration of emerging directions to revitalize natural products search in cancer therapy.

Keywords: Antibody–drug conjugates; Cancer therapy; Combination therapy; Drug discovery; Natural products.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The chemical structures of natural products used in ADCs. a Auristatin E, the warhead molecule for MMAE; b Maytansine, the warhead molecule for DM1; c N‐acetyl‐calicheamicin γ, the warhead molecule for gemtuzumab ozogamicin and inotuzumab ozogamicin
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The represent chemical structures of natural products from molecularly-targeted drug hunting. a Hematoxylin; b Eucalyptin A; c Pseudolaric acid B; d Parthenolide; e Trabectedin; f Ulocladol
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Proposed processes for the discovery of natural products for cancer therapy
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Mode of action of anticancer effect of natural products
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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