Incredible use of plant-derived bioactives as anticancer agents (original) (raw)
* Corresponding authors
a Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, India
E-mail: kirankangra90@gmail.com, drsaloni.pharma@mdurohtak.ac.in, drvineet.pharma@mdurohtak.ac.in, drvandana.pharma@mdurohtak.ac.in
b College of Pharmacy, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, India
E-mail: sachdeva.virender5@gmail.com
c MM College of Pharmacy, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala 133207, Haryana, India
d Department of Biosciences, Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai 602105, Tamil Nadu, India
e Department of Biomedical Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia
E-mail: tabarak.malik@ju.edu.et
f Division of Research & Development, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, Punjab-144411, India
Abstract
Cancer is a major global concern. Despite considerable advancements in cancer therapy and control, there are still large gaps and requirements for development. In recent years, various naturally occurring anticancer drugs have been derived from natural resources, such as alkaloids, glycosides, terpenes, terpenoids, flavones, and polyphenols. Plant-derived substances exhibit their anticancer potential through antiproliferative activity, cytotoxicity, apoptosis, angiogenesis and cell cycle arrest. Natural compounds can affect the molecular activity of cells through various signaling pathways, like the cell cycle pathway, STAT-3 pathway, PI3K/Akt, and Ras/MAP-kinase pathways. Capsaicin, ouabain, and lycopene show their anticancer potential through the STAT-3 pathway in breast, colorectal, pancreatic, lung, cervical, ovarian and colon cancers. Epigallocatechin gallate and emodin target the JNK protein in skin, breast, and lung cancers, while berberine, evodiamine, lycorine, and astragalin exhibit anticancer activity against breast, liver, prostate, pancreatic and skin cancers and leukemia through the PI3K/Akt and Ras/MAP-kinase pathways. In vitro/in vivo investigations revealed that secondary metabolites suppress cancer cells by causing DNA damage and activating apoptosis-inducing enzymes. After a meticulous literature review, the anti-cancer potential, mode of action, and clinical trials of 144 bioactive compounds and their synthetic analogues are included in the present work, which could pave the way for using plant-derived bioactives as anticancer agents.
- This article is part of the themed collection:2025 Reviews in RSC Advances
This article is Open Access
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Article information
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/D4RA05089D
Article type
Review Article
Submitted
14 Jul 2024
Accepted
31 Dec 2024
First published
20 Jan 2025
This article is Open Access
Download Citation
RSC Adv., 2025,15, 1721-1746
Permissions
Incredible use of plant-derived bioactives as anticancer agents
K. Kangra, S. Kakkar, V. Mittal, V. Kumar, N. Aggarwal, H. Chopra, T. Malik and V. Garg,RSC Adv., 2025, 15, 1721DOI: 10.1039/D4RA05089D
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