Anticancer Effects of Cepharanthine: an Updated Minireview

Cepharanthine (CEP), a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid, has a long history of clinical use in Japan for various diseases. Over the past few decades, it is potent anticancer activities have garnered significant attention. In this review shows CEP exhibits anti-cancer activity via diverse mechanisms: it induces programmed cell death via intrinsic mitochondrial pathways, extrinsic death receptor signaling, and endoplasmic reticulum stress. It also arrests uncontrolled cell proliferation by causing G0/G1 and G2/M phase cell cycle arrest. Furthermore, CEP inhibits tumor progression by suppressing metastasis, invasion, and angiogenesis. It effectively modulates crucial oncogenic signaling pathways such as PI3K/Akt/mTOR, NF-κB, and JAK2/STAT3, MAPK, and plays a role in regulating oxidative stress within cancer cell. Notably, CEP can reverse multidrug resistance by inhibiting drug efflux transporters, thereby enhancing the efficacy of conventional chemotherapies, this review shows the diverse molecular targets of CEP and elucidates the complex network of pathways it modulates, positioning it as a promising natural compound for further investigation in cancer therapy.