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Fastidious Anatomization of Biota Procured Compounds on Cancer Drug Discovery
Anand Thirupathi1, Chandra M Shanmugavadivelu2, Sampathkumar Natarajan3
1Laboratory of Molecular Iron Metabolism, College of Life Science, Hebei Normal University, Shijiazhuang 050024, Hebei Province, China.
Background:
Natural products are the rootstock for identifying new drugs since ancient times. In comparison with synthetic drugs, they have abounding beneficial effects in bestowing protection against many diseases, including cancer. Cancer has been observed as a major threat in recent decades, and its prevalence is expected to increase over the next decades. Also, current treatment methods in cancer therapy such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy cause severe adverse side effects among the cancer population. Therefore, it is exigent to find a remedy without any side effects.
Methods:
In recent years, research has focused on obtaining naturally derived products to encounter this complication. The current pace of investigations, such as gene identification and advancement in combinatorial chemistry, leads to the aberrant access to a wide range of new synthetic drugs. In fact, natural products act as templates in structure predictions and synthesis of new compounds with enhanced biological activities.
Results:
Recent developments in genomics have established the importance of polymorphism, which implies that patients require different drugs for their treatment. This demands the discovery of a large number of drugs, but limited sources restrict the pharmaceutical industry to overcome these major obstacles. The use of natural products and their semisynthetic and synthetic analogues could alleviate these problems. However, the lack of standardization in terms of developing methods for evaluating the chemical composition, efficacy, isolation and international approval is still a major limitation in this field. In the past few years, several drug-approval authorities, including the FDA and WHO have allowed using these naturally derived compounds in humans.
Conclusion:
In this review, we described the use of some natural products from plant and marine sources in cancer treatment and shed some light on semi-synthetic and synthetic compounds derived from natural sources used in cancer therapy.
Insights
Natural products offer promising cancer treatments with fewer side effects than traditional therapies. This review highlights plant and marine-derived compounds and their synthetic analogs for cancer therapy.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Natural Products Chemistry
- Oncology
Background:
- Natural products have historically served as a foundation for drug discovery, offering significant advantages over synthetic drugs, particularly in cancer treatment.
- Cancer poses a growing global health challenge, with current therapies like chemotherapy and radiation causing severe adverse effects.
- There is an urgent need for novel, safe, and effective cancer treatments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of natural products from plant and marine sources in cancer treatment.
- To explore semi-synthetic and synthetic compounds derived from natural sources for their therapeutic potential in oncology.
Main Methods:
- Review of scientific literature on natural products and their derivatives in cancer therapy.
- Analysis of research on genomics and drug development, highlighting the role of natural products as templates.
- Examination of regulatory approvals for naturally derived compounds.
Main Results:
- Natural products and their analogues can address the increasing demand for diverse cancer drugs driven by genetic polymorphism.
- Despite challenges in standardization and approval, regulatory bodies like the FDA and WHO are increasingly permitting the use of naturally derived compounds.
- Plant and marine natural products show significant potential in cancer treatment.
Conclusions:
- Natural products, including plant and marine-derived compounds and their synthetic derivatives, represent a valuable resource for developing new cancer therapies.
- Further research and standardization are crucial to fully harness the potential of these natural compounds in clinical oncology.
- The review underscores the importance of natural products in complementing and potentially replacing conventional cancer treatments.
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