Natural Products in Cancer Therapy: Past, Present and Future

Overview

Journal Nat Prod Bioprospect

Publisher Springer

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Jan 3

PMID 33389713

Citations 179

Authors

Min Huang

Jin-Jian Lu

Jian Ding

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Natural products, with remarkable chemical diversity, have been extensively investigated for their anticancer potential for more than a half-century. The collective efforts of the community have achieved the tremendous advancements, bringing natural products to clinical use and discovering new therapeutic opportunities, yet the challenges remain ahead. With remarkable changes in the landscape of cancer therapy and growing role of cutting-edge technologies, we may have come to a crossroads to revisit the strategies to understand nature products and to explore their therapeutic utility. This review summarizes the key advancements in nature product-centered cancer research and calls for the implementation of systematic approaches, new pharmacological models, and exploration of emerging directions to revitalize natural products search in cancer therapy.

Citing Articles

TQFL19, a Novel Derivative of Thymoquinone (TQ), Plays an Essential Role by Inhibiting Cell Growth, Metastasis, and Invasion in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

El-Far A, Liu X, Xiao T, Du J, Du X, Wei C Molecules. 2025; 30(4).

PMID: 40005083 PMC: 11858164. DOI: 10.3390/molecules30040773.

Exploring the Antineoplastic Properties of the Lebanese Against Colorectal Cancer.

Rifi M, Radwan Z, Sari-Chmayssem N, Kassir R, Fajloun Z, Rahman A Metabolites. 2025; 15(2).

PMID: 39997715 PMC: 11857801. DOI: 10.3390/metabo15020090.

Macrocarpal I induces immunogenic cell death and synergizes with immune checkpoint inhibition by targeting tubulin and PARP1 in colorectal cancer.

Zhang Y, Li H, Zhao Y, Liu L, Zhou Y, Pan X Cell Death Discov. 2025; 11(1):73.

PMID: 39987121 PMC: 11846858. DOI: 10.1038/s41420-025-02360-9.

Exploring the therapeutic potential of oleanolic acid and its derivatives in cancer treatment: a comprehensive review.

DMello R, Mendon V, Pai P, Das I, Sundara B 3 Biotech. 2025; 15(3):56.

PMID: 39926108 PMC: 11803024. DOI: 10.1007/s13205-025-04209-5.

Pharmacophore-based identification and in Silico characterization of microbial metabolites as potential modulators of Wnt signaling pathway in colorectal cancer therapy.

Sharma D, Arumugam S Mol Divers. 2025; .

PMID: 39921842 DOI: 10.1007/s11030-024-11103-4.

References

Whitby L, Obach R, Simon G, Hayward M, Cravatt B . Quantitative Chemical Proteomic Profiling of the in Vivo Targets of Reactive Drug Metabolites. ACS Chem Biol. 2017; 12(8):2040-2050. PMC: 5626524. DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.7b00346. View

Du W, Elemento O . Cancer systems biology: embracing complexity to develop better anticancer therapeutic strategies. Oncogene. 2014; 34(25):3215-25. DOI: 10.1038/onc.2014.291. View

Pan S, Zhang H, Wang C, Yao S, Yao S . Target identification of natural products and bioactive compounds using affinity-based probes. Nat Prod Rep. 2015; 33(5):612-20. DOI: 10.1039/c5np00101c. View

Gradishar W, Tjulandin S, Davidson N, Shaw H, Desai N, Bhar P . Phase III trial of nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel compared with polyethylated castor oil-based paclitaxel in women with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2005; 23(31):7794-803. DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2005.04.937. View

Oberlies N, Kroll D . Camptothecin and taxol: historic achievements in natural products research. J Nat Prod. 2004; 67(2):129-35. DOI: 10.1021/np030498t. View

Chen S, Zhou G, Zhang X, Mao J, de The H, Chen Z . From an old remedy to a magic bullet: molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of arsenic in fighting leukemia. Blood. 2011; 117(24):6425-37. PMC: 3123014. DOI: 10.1182/blood-2010-11-283598. View

Chang J, Kim Y, Kwon H . Advances in identification and validation of protein targets of natural products without chemical modification. Nat Prod Rep. 2016; 33(5):719-30. DOI: 10.1039/c5np00107b. View

Yu B, Li M, Wang W, Wang Y, Jiang Y, Yang S . Pseudolaric acid B-driven phosphorylation of c-Jun impairs its role in stabilizing HIF-1alpha: a novel function-converter model. J Mol Med (Berl). 2012; 90(8):971-81. DOI: 10.1007/s00109-012-0865-4. View

Grossman E, Ward C, Spradlin J, Bateman L, Huffman T, Miyamoto D . Covalent Ligand Discovery against Druggable Hotspots Targeted by Anti-cancer Natural Products. Cell Chem Biol. 2017; 24(11):1368-1376.e4. PMC: 5693770. DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2017.08.013. View

10.

Yan S, Liu R, Jin H, Liu X, Ye J, Shan L . "Omics" in pharmaceutical research: overview, applications, challenges, and future perspectives. Chin J Nat Med. 2015; 13(1):3-21. DOI: 10.1016/S1875-5364(15)60002-4. View

11.

Germano G, Frapolli R, Simone M, Tavecchio M, Erba E, Pesce S . Antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects of trabectedin on human myxoid liposarcoma cells. Cancer Res. 2010; 70(6):2235-44. DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-09-2335. View

12.

Pommier Y . Topoisomerase I inhibitors: camptothecins and beyond. Nat Rev Cancer. 2006; 6(10):789-802. DOI: 10.1038/nrc1977. View

13.

Wall M . Camptothecin and taxol: discovery to clinic. Med Res Rev. 1998; 18(5):299-314. DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-1128(199809)18:5<299::aid-med2>3.0.co;2-o. View

14.

Niu C, Yan H, Yu T, Sun H, Liu J, Li X . Studies on treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia with arsenic trioxide: remission induction, follow-up, and molecular monitoring in 11 newly diagnosed and 47 relapsed acute promyelocytic leukemia patients. Blood. 1999; 94(10):3315-24. View

15.

Abdollahpour-Alitappeh M, Lotfinia M, Gharibi T, Mardaneh J, Farhadihosseinabadi B, Larki P . Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for cancer therapy: Strategies, challenges, and successes. J Cell Physiol. 2018; 234(5):5628-5642. DOI: 10.1002/jcp.27419. View

16.

Swinney D . Phenotypic vs. target-based drug discovery for first-in-class medicines. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2013; 93(4):299-301. DOI: 10.1038/clpt.2012.236. View

17.

Gradishar W . Albumin-bound paclitaxel: a next-generation taxane. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2006; 7(8):1041-53. DOI: 10.1517/14656566.7.8.1041. View

18.

Newman D, Cragg G . Natural Products as Sources of New Drugs over the Nearly Four Decades from 01/1981 to 09/2019. J Nat Prod. 2020; 83(3):770-803. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b01285. View

19.

Hanahan D, Weinberg R . Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell. 2011; 144(5):646-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.02.013. View

20.

Gao C, Hou G, Liu J, Ru T, Xu Y, Zhao S . Synthesis and Target Identification of Benzoxepane Derivatives as Potential Anti-Neuroinflammatory Agents for Ischemic Stroke. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2019; 59(6):2429-2439. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201912489. View