Present review describes research on novel natural anticancer agents isolated from terrestrial and marine sources. More than 120 cytotoxic anticancer compounds have shown confirmed activity in tumor cell lines bioassay and are of current interest to National Cancer Institute for further in vivo evaluation. Intensive searchers for new classes of pharmacologically potent agents produced by terrestrial and marine organisms have resulted in the discovery of dozens of compounds posessing high cytotoxic activities. However, only a limited number of them have been tested in pre-clinical and clinical trials. One of the reasons is a limited supply of the active ingedients from the natural sources. However, the pre-clinical and clinical development of many terrestrial and/or marine derived natural products into pharmaceuticals is often hampered by a limited supply from the natural source. Total synthesis is of vital importnace in these situations, allowing for the production of useful quantities of the target compound for further biological evaluation. With computer program PASS some additional biological activities are also predicted, which point toward new possible applications of these compounds. This review emphasizes the role of terrestrial and marine peroxides as an important soure of leads for drug discovery.
Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, 2008, 7, 571-589.