Potential mechanisms of plant-derived natural products in the treatment of cervical cancer

Abstract

Cervical cancer is the second most common gynecological malignancy globally; it seri-ously endangers women’s health because of its high morbidity and mortality. Conventional treat-ments are prone to drug resistance, recurrence and metastasis. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new drugs with high efficacy and low side effects to prevent and treat cervical cancer. In recent years, plant-derived natural products have been evaluated as potential anticancer drugs that preferentially kill tumor cells without severe adverse effects. A growing number of studies have shown that natural products can achieve practical anti-cervical-cancer effects through multiple mechanisms, including inhibition of tumor-cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, suppression of angiogenesis and telomerase activity, enhancement of immunity and reversal of multidrug re-sistance. This paper reviews the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of plant-derived natural products on cervical cancer and provides references for developing anti-cervical-cancer drugs with high efficacy and low side effects.