Jornal de Biologia Marinha e Oceanografia

Diverse Marine-Derived Natural Products in Cancer Therapy

Matthew Hayek

Natural products (NPs) are essential sources of bioactive molecules in the development and discovery of novel medications for a variety of human ailments. The majority of natural products come from terrestrial animals, however new cancer therapies can also come from a variety of marine organisms. Bioactive secondary metabolites in natural products obtained from marine organisms demonstrate a wide range of pharmacological effects. In many malignancies, they modulate cellular systems to govern biological activities such as cell proliferation, cell viability, activation of ROS generation, ER stress, and apoptosis. To determine the efficacy of their biological activity and anticancer effects, several natural compounds obtained from marine organisms need to be studied further. The biological properties and anticancer effects of several natural compounds isolated from marine species, as well as their functions in tumour therapy, are summarised in this article.