Marine life as a source for breast cancer treatment: A comprehensive review

• Published in: Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy 2023-03, Vol.159, p.114165-114165, Article 114165
• Main Authors: Hussain, Amjad, Bourguet-Kondracki, Marie-Lise, Majeed, Maryam, Ibrahim, Muhammad, Imran, Muhammad, Yang, Xian-Wen, Ahmed, Ishtiaq, Altaf, Ataf Ali, Khalil, Anees Ahmed, Rauf, Abdur, Wilairatana, Polrat, Hemeg, Hassan A., Ullah, Riaz, Green, Ivan R., Ali, Iftikhar, Shah, Syed Tasadaque A., Hussain, Hidayat
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actinomycetes; Algae; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use; Aquatic Organisms - chemistry; Ascidians; Biological Products - chemistry; Breast cancer; Chemical Sciences; Cyanobacteria; Fungi; Marine natural products; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Porifera - chemistry; Sponges; Tunicates
• ISSN: 0753-3322; 1950-6007
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.114165

Breast cancer, one of the most significant tumors among all cancer cells, still has deficiencies for effective treatment. Moreover, substitute treatments employing natural products as bioactive metabolites has been seriously considered. The source of bioactive metabolites are not only the most numerous but also represent the richest source. A unique source is from the oceans or marine species which demonstrated intriguing chemical and biological diversity which represents an astonishing reserve for discovering novel anticancer drugs. Notably, marine sponges produce the largest amount of diverse bioactive peptides, alkaloids, terpenoids, polyketides along with many secondary metabolites whose potential is mostly therapeutic. In this review, our main focus is on the marine derived secondary metabolites which demonstrated cytotoxic effects towards numerous breast cancer cells and have been isolated from the marine sources such as marine sponges, cyanobacteria, fungi, algae, tunicates, actinomycetes, ascidians, and other sources of marine organisms.