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Role of Plant Secondary Metabolites as Anticancer and Chemopreventive Agents

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Plant Secondary Metabolites

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Abstract

Cancer is a life-threatening disease, and its treatment is a challenge for medical science since its inception. This disease is characterized by uncontrolled cell division, and hence its treatment relies on rectifying the functioning of cellular processes. It is estimated that cancer patients will increase by 70% in the coming two decades. Although innumerable drugs are available to treat cancer, the side effects associated with them induces the need to search for nontoxic and efficient anticancer agents. Plants being rich in structurally diverse compounds have immense scope in providing lead bioactive molecules. Plant secondary metabolites have been massively searched for their cancer prevention activities in both in vitro and in vivo models. As a consequence of substantial plant-based research, more than 60% commercial anticancer drugs are derived from plant secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are organic molecules essential for the survival of plants where they are engaged in performing numerous functions. This chapter is focused on the chemopreventive and anticancer activity of three major classes of secondary metabolites including terpenoids (monoterpenoids, diterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, and tetraterpenoids), polyphenols (curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, and flavonoids), and nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites (alkaloids and glucosinolates).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India

    Jeevanjot Kaur

  2. Department of Botany, Giani Kartar Singh Memorial Government College, Tanda Urmar, India

    Sonia Mahey

  3. Department of Pathology, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA

    Pankaj Ahluwalia

  4. Department of Botany and Environmental Science, Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, Fatehgarh Sahib, India

    Rakesh Joshi

  5. Department of Botany, Doaba College, Jalandhar, India

    Rakesh Kumar

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  1. Jeevanjot Kaur
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  2. Sonia Mahey
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  5. Rakesh Kumar
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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University), Mullana, Ambala, Haryana, India

    Anil Kumar Sharma

  2. Department of Chemistry, Career Point University, Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Ajay Sharma

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Kaur, J., Mahey, S., Ahluwalia, P., Joshi, R., Kumar, R. (2022). Role of Plant Secondary Metabolites as Anticancer and Chemopreventive Agents. In: Sharma, A.K., Sharma, A. (eds) Plant Secondary Metabolites. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-4779-6_4

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