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Review
. 2022 Dec 15;14(24):6203.
doi: 10.3390/cancers14246203.

Natural Products/Bioactive Compounds as a Source of Anticancer Drugs

Syeda Tasmia Asma  1 , Ulas Acaroz  1   2 , Kálmán Imre  3 , Adriana Morar  3 , Syed Rizwan Ali Shah  4 , Syed Zajif Hussain  5 , Damla Arslan-Acaroz  2   6 , Hayri Demirbas  7 , Zehra Hajrulai-Musliu  8 , Fatih Ramazan Istanbullugil  9 , Ali Soleimanzadeh  10 , Dmitry Morozov  11 , Kui Zhu  12 , Viorel Herman  13 , Abdelhanine Ayad  14 , Christos Athanassiou  15 , Sinan Ince  16
Affiliations
Review

Natural Products/Bioactive Compounds as a Source of Anticancer Drugs

Syeda Tasmia Asma et al. Cancers (Basel). .

Abstract

Cancer is one of the major deadly diseases globally. The alarming rise in the mortality rate due to this disease attracks attention towards discovering potent anticancer agents to overcome its mortality rate. The discovery of novel and effective anticancer agents from natural sources has been the main point of interest in pharmaceutical research because of attractive natural therapeutic agents with an immense chemical diversity in species of animals, plants, and microorganisms. More than 60% of contemporary anticancer drugs, in one form or another, have originated from natural sources. Plants and microbial species are chosen based on their composition, ecology, phytochemical, and ethnopharmacological properties. Plants and their derivatives have played a significant role in producing effective anticancer agents. Some plant derivatives include vincristine, vinblastine, irinotecan, topotecan, etoposide, podophyllotoxin, and paclitaxel. Based on their particular activity, a number of other plant-derived bioactive compounds are in the clinical development phase against cancer, such as gimatecan, elomotecan, etc. Additionally, the conjugation of natural compounds with anti-cancerous drugs, or some polymeric carriers particularly targeted to epitopes on the site of interest to tumors, can generate effective targeted treatment therapies. Cognizance from such pharmaceutical research studies would yield alternative drug development strategies through natural sources which could be economical, more reliable, and safe to use.

Keywords: anticancer drugs; medicinal mushrooms; medicinal plants; natural products.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Some medicinal plants and their bioactive compounds having potential anticancer properties.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of (a) vinblastine, (b) vincristine, (c) vinorelbine, (d) vinflunine, (e) berbamine, and (f) veratridine.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Chemical structures of (a) camptothecin, (b) irinotecan, (c) diflomotecan, and (d) topotecan.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Chemical structures of (a) podophyllotoxin, (b) etoposide, and (c) teniposide.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Chemical structures of (a) paclitaxel, (b) cabazitaxel, and (c) docetaxel.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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