Anti-inflammatory and anticancer drugs from nature.

Abstract

Over the centuries, plant extracts have been used to treat various diseases. Until now, natural products have played an important role in anticancer therapy as there are more than 500 compounds from terrestrial and marine plants or microorganisms, which have antioxidant, antiproliferative, or antiangiogenic properties and are therefore able to reduce tumor growth. The recent discovery of new natural products has been accelerated by novel technologies (high throughput screening of natural products in plants, animals, marine organisms, and microorganisms). Vincristine, irinotecan, etoposide, and paclitaxel are examples of compounds derived from plants that are used in cancer treatment. Similarly, actinomycin D, mitomycin C, bleomycin, doxorubicin, and L-asparaginase are drugs derived from microorganisms. In this review, we describe the molecular mechanisms of natural compounds with anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities.

• Authors: Barbora Orlikova, Noémie Legrand, Jana Panning, Mario Dicato, Marc Diederich
• Journal: Cancer treatment and research (Cancer Treat Res) Vol. 159 Pg. 123-43 ( 2014) ISSN: 0927-3042 [Print] United States
• PMID: 24114478 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)

Chemical References

• Anti-Inflammatory Agents
• Antineoplastic Agents
• Biological Products

Topics

• Animals
• Anti-Inflammatory Agents (therapeutic use)
• Antineoplastic Agents (therapeutic use)
• Biological Products (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Neoplasms (drug therapy)