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.

Keywords: Anticancer agents, natural products, anticancer activity, mechanism of action, structure and activity relationship