Therapeutic application of diverse marine-derived natural products in cancer therapy

Abstract

Natural products (NPs) are useful sources of bioactive compounds and play important roles in the development and discovery of new drugs for diverse human diseases. Most natural products originate from terrestrial species, but diverse marine organisms are another source of new agents for cancer therapy. Natural products derived from marine organisms show diverse pharmacological activities via bioactive secondary metabolites. They regulate biological activities, such as cell proliferation, cell viability, induction of ROS production, ER stress, and apoptosis via modulation of cellular mechanisms in many cancers. Many natural products isolated from marine species require further study to elucidate the efficacy of their biological activity and anticancer effects. In this review, we summarize the biological properties and anticancer effects of diverse natural products extracted from marine organisms and their roles in tumor therapy.