title: [Main anticancer substances of vegetable origin].
abstract: During the last thirty years, the systematic screening of thousands of vegetal extracts has led to the isolation of numerous antitumor agents which belong to various chemical series. This paper only deals with some of them which are either of current clinical use or under advanced clinical experimentation, e.g., ellipticine, homoharringtonine, camptothecine, acronycine and their derivatives. The origin, the biological activity and its mechanism, and the toxicity of each of these alkaloids are described. These examples highlight the interest of the Plant Kingdom as source of biologically active new structures and the importance of a good knowledge of the mechanism of the activity and toxicity of active components. This knowledge gives a rational basis to prepare compounds of increased activity or reduced toxicity and to use them at their best in therapeutic.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Pharmacognosie, URA 1310, CNRS, Faculté de Pharmacie, Paris.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000175:Acronine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000145:classification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004611:Ellipticines / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006248:Harringtonines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077863:Homoharringtonine; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D004611:Ellipticines; D006248:Harringtonines; D000077863:Homoharringtonine; D000175:Acronine; D002166:Camptothecin
vernacular_title: Principaux anticancéreux d'origine végétale.