Anti-Inflammatory and Anticancer Drugs

Over the centuries, plant extracts have been used to treat various dis-6 eases. Until now, natural products have played an important role in anticancer 7 therapy as there are more than 500 compounds from terrestrial and marine plants 8 or microorganisms, which have antioxidant, antiproliferative, or antiangiogenic 9 properties and are therefore able to reduce tumor growth. The recent discovery of 10 new natural products has been accelerated by novel technologies (high throughput 11 screening of natural products in plants, animals, marine organisms, and microor-12 ganisms). Vincristine, irinotecan, etoposide, and paclitaxel are examples of com-13 pounds derived from plants that are used in cancer treatment. Similarly, 14 actinomycin D, mitomycin C, bleomycin, doxorubicin, and L-asparaginase are 15 drugs derived from microorganisms. In this review, we describe the molecular 16 mechanisms of natural …