The fact that cancer is the greatest challenge for medicine of the twenty-first century is undebatable. Moreover, it represents
a hot topic not only in the medico-pharmaceutical research but scientist belonging to other different connected fields like
chemistry, physics, informatics work together in order to find a good strategy to make advances in the endeavor to defeat this
hard-to-beat enemy. The latest statistic of WHO details the fact that cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Up to
date the most common approaches include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy. It is well known the
fact that Plant Kingdom has played a vital role in the design of active chemotherapeutic agents. In the history of natural
compounds used in clinical trials for the cytotoxic activity they are some well known ‘protagonists’ including: vinca alkaloids,
paclitaxel, homoharringtonine and their derivatives. Also an increased number of semisynthetic derivatives of plant secondary
metabolites are in clinical trials for different types of cancer. FDA data show that approximately 40% of the approved
molecules in the pharmaceutical market are natural compounds or their chemical derivatives from which, 74% are employed in
well-established protocols of anticancer therapy. Moreover, recent studies show that a significant number of natural compounds
are ‘cancer-selective’ presenting antiproliferative, pro-apoptotic, cytotoxic potential against cancerous cells without any effect
against normal, healthy cells. Because the biodiversity of our planet has not been fully exploited, Plant Kingdom represents a
big pool for the discovery of anti-cancer agents.
Having this alive proofs about the role of natural compounds in the management of this highly aggressive pathology, this
special thematic issue of Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry was aimed to cover the recent trends and advancements
in the field of natural bioactive compounds, vegetal extracts and modern pharmaceutical formulations with anti-cancer
potential. The group of Wiemann et al., presents a review of the most important findings on the cytotoxic behavior of
dehydroabietylamine derivatives, natural compounds belonging to the chemical class of diterpenes; the manuscript also points
several drawbacks of some of these compounds such as low bioavailability and/or poor solubility. The work focuses on the
chemical aspects and summarizes the related biological effects of the aforementioned structures [1]. With their work, Sharma et
al. update about the management of cervical cancer by the help of natural compounds. The present report reveals
pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics aspects of various pipeline drugs that have a prominent hope for the treatment of cervical
cancer. Moreover, the study exposes the possible mechanism, adverse drug reaction, combined therapy and pleiotropic action of
these under investigational drugs, which can further improve the therapeutic efficacy and restrict the imaginable harmful effects
[2]. In their review Fayyaz et al., present the latest data regarding the potential of blueberry as natural inhibitor of metastasis
and powerful apoptosis inducer. The main mechanism of action and chemical pathways are underlined [3]. Binienda et al.,
highlight the latest findings regarding the anticancer properties of silibinin, focusing on the molecular mechanism and
therapeutic effect in breast cancer. Also, a discussion about silibinin and commonly-used anti-cancer drugs - co-treatment is
included [4]. The comprehensive review of Betul Yerer et al., emphasizes current data about the anticancer effects of
coumarins and their hybrid molecules including novel pharmaceutical formulations focusing on the structure-activity
relationship of these compounds in cancer. Based on ISI Web of Science data, the manuscript shows the importance and the
increased number of studies of this class on secondary plant metabolites in different anti-cancer approaches in the last ten years
[5]. Mandadi N. Reddy et al., present an in depth phytochemical and biological characterization of the fern Tectaria coadunate.
The work describes the in vitro antiproliferative potential of the plant crude extract using three different leukemic cell lines
(KG1, MOLT-3 and K-562) [6]. The in-depth review of Antal et al., provides an outline of the various ways in which
flavonolignans advance the combat against cancer. Different molecular targets are underlined. A paragraph that depicts the
synergistic efficacy with some consecrated anti-cancer agents is also included. While the main focus falls on flavonolignans
from milk thistle, attention is drawn to the yet underexplored potential of less known flavonolignan subgroups derived from
isoflavonoids and aurones [7]. The work of Senapathy et al., explores an interesting approach, namely the role of
phytochemicals that can acts as photosensitizers alone or in combination with photodynamic therapy and their mechanism of
action on different types of cancer [8].
