Natural product based promising apoptotic inducers

Natural products continue to impress drug discovery scientists by their amazing bioactivity profiles coupled with their highly complex molecular architecture. These compounds have been the principal source of anticancer chemotherapeutic agents over the last few decades. About 60-70% of the anticancer drugs which are clinically used have been either pure natural products, their synthetic or semi-synthetic derivatives. Among natural products, plant-derived compounds play a pivotal role in anticancer drug discovery programme. These plant-derived compounds include vincristine, vinblastine, camptothecin and its derivatives, etoposide, topotecan, irinotecan, paclitaxel etc. Various novel and promising anticancer drugs are currently under various phases of clinical trials. Natural products have seen many ups and downs viz-a-viz their role in cancer chemotherapy. The current book focuses on the plant-based natural compounds and herbal extracts which specifically induce anticancer effects via the induction of apoptosis.