International Journal of Pharma and Bio Sciences
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10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12
Volume 11 Issue 2
2020 (April-June)
Nature as an answer to cancer: A review on natural anticancer
Cancer, in the modern world, is undoubtedly a crucial disease with a significant associated morbidity and mortality. The number of patients is inflating day by day and there is always a necessity of newer molecules to combat the problem. It is quite commendable that about 40% of the approved molecules by the Food and Drug Administration are found to be natural compounds or somehow influenced by natural products and among them, about 74% of the molecules are used in the therapy of cancer. The current drugs for the therapy of malignancies have been found to be associated with various adverse effects and some of them are even serious in nature. In view of such a case, there is always a persistent demand to develop newer agents, rediscover older agents or discovery of naturally derived agents. With the development of science and the need for newer efficient anti-cancer drugs, there is an inclination towards the naturally derived products with reduced side effects because, they save time, money and effort in research and development of newer molecules. The pathogenesis of cancer is a complex phenomenon and it encompasses varied intricate signaling pathways. Naturally derived products are considered suitable candidates due to their pleiotropic activity on the target with the varied mechanisms of action. Usually naturally derived products, although are being used from ancient times as traditional medicines but lack in proper clinical evidence which makes them a lesser known or endorsed molecules as compared to the newer synthetic ones. This article is a comprehensive review which stresses upon the significance of various naturally derived products in the therapy of cancer, their proposed mechanism of action along with their molecular mechanism and indication or effectiveness in various malignancies
SIDDHARTHA DUTTA
Cancer; Anticancer; Natural products; Phytochemicals; Alkaloids
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