Therapeutic effectiveness of phytochemicals targeting specific cancer cells: a review of the evidence

Over the years, cancer has been one of the major causes of death worldwide due to conventional therapies facing multiple challenges, including multidrug resistance, side effects, and cost-effectiveness. Thus, there is a need for complementary alternative medicine (CAM) for cancer treatment with improved prognosis at an affordable cost. Recently, plant-based phytochemicals have been known to possess multiple therapeutic potentials such as anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, immunomodulation, etc. Some examples of typical phytochemicals such as Taxol, vinca alkaloids (vincristine and vinblastine), and podophyllotoxin are known for their anticancer by regulating molecular pathways of cancer growth and progression. Further, pioneer phytochemicals have also served as templates for the design and development of new anticancer agents with improved pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics properties. For instance, FDA-approved anticancer drugs, doxorubicin and idarubicin, were developed using anthraquinone as scaffold and starting materials. Therefore, this chapter aims to summarize the phytochemicals and mechanisms of action and their structure used as scaffolds for new drug development.