Full Description
Plants that Fight Cancer, Second Edition, is a compilation that reviews cancer treatment and research-based information on the plant kingdom as the source of both known and novel chemical moieties and mixtures, many of them still under identification. This new edition follows the organization of the first book with a considerable expansion of content that more than doubles the volume of information.
Divided into four segments, the first part is dedicated to a review of our current knowledge of cancer, the different types and incidence, the molecular pathways of the disease, and the various treatment protocols, with an emphasis on chemotherapy. The second part is a brief journey in pharmacognosy, with detailed information about each of the fourteen different chemical groups of plant secondary metabolites, their use in cancer chemotherapy, and updated information on the biotechnological production of the most representative compounds in clinical practice. The third part of the book comprises six chapters dedicated to either plant chemotherapeutical approaches to specific cancer types (e.g. bladder, prostate) or specific groups of plant secondary metabolites with novel and promising properties for cancer treatment (e.g. naphthoquinones, lectins, phenanthridone alkaloids). The fourth part, containing investigative information on almost 300 individual plant species with established anticancer properties, either on a clinical or in vitro level, is with no doubt the most analytical.
This new edition contains chapters on cytotoxic phenanthridone alkaloid constituents of the Amaryllidaceae; naphthoquinone-contained anticancer terrestrial plants; polyphenols and cancer immunology; medicinal plant product-based fabrication nanoparticles (Au and Ag) and their anticancer effects; bladder and prostate cancer; and plant lectins in cancer treatment.
FEATURES
• Provides efficient information for all kinds of cancer and plant chemotherapeutical approaches to specific cancer types
• Discusses specific groups of plant secondary metabolites with novel and promising properties for cancer treatment
• Provides scientific information for medicinal uses of various plants
• Contains analytical information on almost 300 individual plant species with established anticancer properties, either on a clinical or in vitro level
• Focuses on plant genera and species that are either already used in cancer chemotherapy or have been identified with antitumor and antileukemic properties to a bigger or lesser extent
Contents
1.Cancer: A Brief Overview of the Disease and its Treatment 1.1. Incidence and causes: cancer in a nutshell 1.2. Classification of cancer types 1.2.1. Cancers with less than 20% five-year survival rate 1.2.2. Cancers with five-year survival rates (at all stages) between 20 and 50% 1.2.3. Cancers with five-year survival rates between 50 and 80% 1.2.4. Cancers with five-year survival rates higher than 80% 1.3. Therapy 1.3.1. Conventional cancer treatments 1.3.2. Advanced cancer treatments 1.3.2.1. Protein kinase inhibitors and other enzymes 1.3.2.2. Immunotherapy 1.3.2.3. Angiogenesis inhibitors 1.3.2.4. Hormones 1.3.3. Other advanced therapies 1.3.4. Alternative cancer treatments 1.4. From source to patient: testing the efficiency of a candidate anticancer drug 1.4.1. Preclinical tests 1.4.2. Phases of Clinical Trials 1.4.3. Clinical Trial Protocols 2. The Plant Kingdom: Nature's Pharmacy for Cancer Treatment 2. 1. Brief overview of the general organization of the plant cell 2.2. The chemical constituents of the plant cell 2.2.1. Primary metabolites 2.2.2. Secondary metabolites 2.3. Why do plant compounds have an anticancer activity? 2.4. Chemical groups of natural products with anticancer 2.5. Biotechnology and the supply issue 3. Cytotoxic Phenanthridone Alkaloid Constituents of the Amaryllidaceae 3.1. Introduction 3.2. Isolation of phenanthridones 3.3. Structural features of phenanthridones 3.4. Synthesis of phenanthridone alkaloids 3.5. Cytotoxic effects of phenanthridone alkaloids in vitro 3.5.1. Narciclasine and its congeners 3.5.2. Pancratistatin and its congeners 3.5.3. Narciprimine and its congeners 3.6. Structure-activ



