Natural Products and Their Derivatives as Antitumor Agents
A special issue of Current Issues in Molecular Biology (ISSN 1467-3045). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry, Molecular and Cellular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 2
Special Issue Editor
Interests: biological activity of natural products; microbiology; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; aptamer selection
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Data indicate that approximately 60% of pharmaceuticals utilized in cancer therapy are either natural compounds or their derivatives. Prominent examples of antitumor drugs of natural origin include vincristine, vinblastine, camptothecin, and paclitaxel, which are isolated from plants, as well as derivatives of natural compounds such as etoposide, teniposide, and docetaxel. Secondary metabolites of microorganisms, as well as marine organisms, are also a source of antitumor drugs, such as mitomycin, pentostatin, doxorubicin, and trabectedin. Antitumor drugs can exert a cytotoxic effect not only on cancerous but also on healthy cells. Orally administered, they may have poor bioavailability, and the occurrence of drug resistance in cancer is increasingly common. However, the harmful effects on healthy cells can be reduced by targeted therapy. The most common targets of antitumor drugs are enzymes, primarily tyrosine kinases, polymerases, topoisomerases, and ligases, followed by receptors (transmembrane and G-protein coupled), growth factors, tumor-specific antigens, and cytokines. Finally, natural products can also be used to alleviate the side effects of cancer treatments, such as those experienced during chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The topics of this Special Issue focus on the overview of advanced methods for the discovery of antitumor compounds of natural origin, as well as strategies to overcome drug resistance and mitigate their cytotoxic effects on healthy cells, utilizing targeted cancer therapy, and approaches to enhance the bioavailability of natural compounds.
Dr. Branislav Nastasijevic
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- anticancer drug screening
- derivatives of natural compounds
- targeted cancer therapy
- multi-target therapy
- cancer drug resistance
- drug repurposing
- anticancer drug bioavailability
- antiproliferative activity
- natural products as radiosensitizers
- natural products as radioprotectors
- natural remedies for chemotherapy side effects
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