title: Anticancer agents derived from natural products.
abstract: Advances in the prevention and treatment of cancer require the continued development of novel and improved chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agents. Throughout history, natural products have afforded a rich source of anticancer agents with diverse chemical structures and bioactivities. Recent technological and methodologic advances in structure elucidation, organic synthesis, and biological assay have resulted in the isolation and clinical evaluation of various novel anticancer agents. In this review, we will present the anticancer activities, mechanism of action, structure and activity relationships of six important anticancer agents from natural products, that is, taxol, betulinic acid, camptothecin, resveratrol, podophyllotoxin and curcumin.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Ministry of Education, No. 24, Tongjia Lane, Nanjing 210009, China.
authors.forename: E-Hu
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Lian-Wen
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yong-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001688:Biological Products