Natural Small Molecules in Breast Cancer Treatment: Understandings from a Therapeutic Viewpoint

Abstract

Breast cancer (BrCa) is the most common malignancy in women and the second most significant cause of death from cancer. BrCa is one of the most challenging malignancies to treat, and it accounts for a large percentage of cancer-related deaths. The number of cases requiring more effective BrCa therapy has increased dramatically. Scientists are looking for more productive agents, such as organic combinations, for BrCa prevention and treatment because most chemotherapeutic agents are linked to cancer metastasis, the resistance of the drugs, and side effects. Natural compounds produced by living organisms promote apoptosis and inhibit metastasis, slowing the spread of cancer. As a result, these compounds may delay the spread of BrCa, enhancing survival rates and reducing the number of deaths caused by BrCa. Several natural compounds inhibit BrCa production while lowering cancer cell proliferation and triggering cell death. Natural compounds, in addition to therapeutic approaches, are efficient and potential agents for treating BrCa. This review highlights the natural compounds demonstrated in various studies to have anticancer properties in BrCa cells. Future research into biological anti-BrCa agents may pave the way for a new era in BrCa treatment, with natural anti-BrCa drugs playing a key role in improving BrCa patient survival rates.

Characterizing the Antitumor Effect of Coptis chinensis and Mume Fructus against Colorectal Cancer Based on Pharmacological Analysis

“…In the meantime, they can counter the side effects caused by chemotherapy [ 47 , 48 ]. Multiple natural products have demonstrated antitumor activities by promoting cell apoptosis and inhibiting metastasis to slow cancer spread while reducing cancer cell proliferation and triggering death [ 49 ]. Some natural compounds have been shown to have the potential to act as aromatase inhibitors, and thus play a huge role in the treatment of gynecological tumors [ 50 , 51 ].…”

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of N14-Amino Acid-Substituted Tetrandrine Derivatives as Potential Antitumor Agents against Human Colorectal Cancer

“…The synthesis of TET derivatives (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) is depicted in Scheme 1. Since optimizations on the C 14 position of TET have commonly provided derivatives with better anticancer activities than the parent compound [32,33], herein, a series of L-amino acids were attached to this position through an amide bond.…”

“…PKC-α was chosen as the target receptor, and the 3D structure of the receptor was obtained from the Protein Data Bank (PDB ID: 4RA4). The ligand (16) was prepared for docking as described in our previous work [71]. Docking studies were performed with the AutoDock (4.2) program suite.…”

Multidrug Resistance in Cancer Cells: Focus on a Possible Strategy Plan to Address Colon Carcinoma Cells

“…Hence, the therapy should be personalized for each tumor, based on the identification of the mechanism of action shown by the tumor cells of the individual patient [ 14 ]. This can make the therapeutic regimen much more difficult [ 15 ]. In most cases, this is the major reason for the development of resistance [ 16 ].…”