Cancer

ABSTRACTThe objective of the present study was investigation of the chemical screening, antioxidant potential and antiangiogenic effect of Microporus xanthopus, Ganoderma orbiforme and Polyporus fasciculatus, medicinal mushrooms from Gabon. Theantioxidant activities of water, water-ethanol and ethanol extracts of three fungi were tested by measuring the trapping power of DPPH radical. The anti-angiogenic activity was evaluated for some water extracts by chicken chorioallantoic membrane method (CAM). The results obtained for DPPH trapping test showed that the various extracts tested had antioxidant activities going from low to very high. The greatest activities were found in Microporus xanthopus with IAAs of 3.88 and 4.13, respectively, for water and water-ethanol extracts. Polyporus fasciculatus fungi exhibited strong antioxidant activities. The moderate activity was found in the extract of Ganoderma orbiforme. The water extracts tested for their anti-angiogenic activity acted by decreasing the density and/or number of blood vessels of the CAM with inhibition percentages of 66.67%, 55.45% and 37%, for Ganoderma orbiforme, Microporus xanthopus and Polyporus fasciculatus, respectively. Thus, angiogenesis can be neutralized by the antioxidant molecules contained in the fungi, but these molecules are not the only ones to possess these potentialities. Harvested mushrooms could be potential agents for the fight against cancer. Keywords: Cancer, antioxidant and anti-angiogenic activities, phenolic compounds, CAM, mushrooms.

Plants remain a significant basis of new drugs and new drug leads to the new chemical entities. Plant based drug discovery give rise to the development of anti-cancer and anti-proliferative agents, and continues to add to the new leads in clinical trials. Products of plant drugs play a dominant role in pharmaceutical care and in treatment of various diseases. Several plant-derived compounds are positive results in cancer treatment. There are several classes of plant-derived cytotoxic natural products studied for further improvement and development of drugs. New anticancer drugs derived from research on plant antitumor agents will be continuously discovered. The basic aim of this research article is to explore the potential of newly discovered anticancer compounds from medicinal plants, as a lead for anticancer drug development. It will be helpful to explore the medicinal value of plants and for new drug discovery from them for the researchers and scientists around the globe. In search of novel  anti-cancer compounds I have selected two different medicinal plants Elettaria cardamomum and Ferula assa-foetida.

Cancer is currently one of the major diseases that has gained a lot of scientific attention. Conventional cancer therapeutics involve surgical removal of tumors from patients followed by chemotherapeutic treatment. In the use of anticancer drugs during the chemotherapy process, patients often suffer from a variety of undesirable side effects including damage to normal organs. Thus, there is an urgent need for the development of novel strategies to overcome these side effect issues. Malignant diseases are one of the major causes of death in the western world. Patients are treated by surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Chemotherapeutic treatment is used to decrease the tumour burden and to eliminate malignant cells. However, in most cases, resistance against chemotherapy develops. Therefore, there is a permanent need for new additional treatment strategies and chemotherapeutic combination regimens. In the present review article, the authors try to highlight the most promising approaches and summarize a selection of potential targets and compounds which might become alternative treatment options against malignant diseases.