SECONDARY METABOLITES AS LEAD MOLECULES FOR ANTICANCER THERAPIES: A REVIEW

Cancer initiates from the transformation of normal living cells into malignant cells via a multistage event that usually advances from a pre-cancerous phase to a malignant tumour. Anti-metastatic drugs or anti-neoplastic drugs prevent and regulate the growth of onco cells. Based on the mode of drugs, the universally anticancer drugs market is categorized into cytotoxic, targeted, and hormonal drugs. The targeted drugs class is further divided into monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, and others. The worldwide anticancer drugs market falls into five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Cancer is considered the second largest cause of death globally and is responsible for an estimated 9.6 million deaths in 2018. Globally, about 1 out of 6 deaths is due to cancer. Approximately 72% of deaths from cancer occur in developed and developing countries. Synthetic drugs and other modes of treatment are pre-existing. Chemotherapy treatments have its own limitations due to their toxic effects on non-targeted tissues and it further leads to health problems. Therefore, the demands for alternative treatments from naturally derived or plant-based anticancer agents are need of the day. Many plant-based anticancer compounds are effective inhibitors against many cancer cell lines, which make them in high demand. The Discovery of anticancer cancer compounds having specificity towards cancer cell lines via apoptotic cell death or derailment of the cell cycle in malignant cells can be considered for clinical trials. This review provides some glimpses of naturally-derived compounds from plants and their mode of action against selected cancer cell lines.