title: Natural compounds for pediatric cancer treatment.
abstract: There is a tremendous need in clinics to impair cancer progression through noninvasive therapeutic approaches. The use of natural compounds to achieve this is of importance to improve the quality of life of young patients during their treatments. This review will address the "status of the art" related to the potential of natural compounds that are undergoing investigation in combination with standard therapeutic protocols in preclinical and clinical studies and their importance for pediatric cancer treatment. The early studies of drug discovery of these natural compounds discussed here include the main targets, the cellular signaling pathways involved, and the potential modes of action. We also focus on some promising natural compounds that have shown excellent results in vitro and in vivo: Chebulagic acid, Apigenin, Norcantharidin, Saffron/Crocin, Parthenolide, Longikaurin E, Lupeol, Spongistatin 1, and Deoxy-variolin B. Additionally, we introduce the effects of several compounds from nutraceutical and functional foods, to underline their potential use as adjuvant therapies to improve therapeutic benefits. For this purpose, we have selected several compounds: Agaritine, Ganoderma and GL6 peptide, Diallyl trisulfide and Ajoene from garlic, Epigallocatechin gallate from green tea, Curcumin, Resveratrol, and Quercetin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, 'Federico II' University of Naples, Via Pansini 5, Naples, Italy.|European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM), Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, 'Federico II' University of Naples, Via Pansini 5, Naples, Italy.|Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Iolanda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Boffa
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, 'Federico II' University of Naples, Via Pansini 5, Naples, Italy.|Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Masi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, 'Federico II' University of Naples, Via Pansini 5, Naples, Italy. massimo.zollo@unina.it.|European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM), Milan, Italy. massimo.zollo@unina.it.|Ceinge Biotecnologie Avanzate, Via Gaetano Salvatore 486, Naples, Italy. massimo.zollo@unina.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zollo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D055951:Functional Food; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000178:diet therapy* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic
keywords: Anti-cancer drugs; Functional foods; Natural compounds; Nutraceuticals; Pediatric tumors; Side effects; Tumorigenic pathways