Phytochemicals from medicinal plants are receiving ever greater attention in the scientific literature, in medicine, and in the world economy in general. For example, the global value of plant-derived pharmaceuticals will reach $500 billion in the year 2000 in the OECD countries. In the developing countries, over-the-counter remedies and "ethical phytomedicines," which are standardized toxicologically and clinically defined crude drugs, are seen as a promising low cost alternatives in primary health care. The field also has benefited greatly in recent years from the interaction of the study of traditional ethnobotanical knowledge and the application of modem phytochemical analysis and biological activity studies to medicinal plants. The papers on this topic assembled in the present volume were presented at the annual meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America, held in Mexico City, August 15-19, 1994. This meeting location was chosen at the time of entry of Mexico into the North American Free Trade Agreement as another way to celebrate the closer ties between Mexico, the United States, and Canada. The meeting site was the historic Calinda Geneve Hotel in Mexico City, a most appropriate site to host a group of phytochemists, since it was the address of Russel Marker. Marker lived at the hotel, and his famous papers on steroidal saponins from Dioscorea composita, which launched the birth control pill, bear the address of the hotel.

Role of Nutraceuticals in Chemoresistance to Cancer, Volume Two, focuses on nutraceuticals, the compounds derived from natural sources, which are usually multi-targeted as a means to overcome chemoresistance. This book discusses the role of several compounds related to nutraceuticals and chemoresistance, such as curcumin, resveratrol, indole 3-carbinol, tocotrienols, ursolic acid, fisetin, celastrol, gambogic, butein, catechins and silymarin. It is a valuable resource for cancer researchers, oncologists and members of several areas of the biomedical field who are interested in understanding how to use nutraceuticals as a sensitizing agent for chemotherapy. - Brings updated information on natural compounds used as specific inhibitors of cell signaling pathways as reviewed by experts in the field - Presents experts analysis and summary of reported and novel findings and potential translational application in cancer patients - Describes molecular mechanisms with new and helpful approaches for the readers to use in their own investigations

Discovery and Development of Anti-Breast Cancer Agents from Natural Products presents cutting-edge research advances in the field of bioactive natural products and natural drug formulations. This volume in the Natural Products Drug Discovery series focuses on molecules of natural origin and their synthetic analogs that show promising potential to act as anti-breast cancer and chemotherapeutic agents. Combining foundational background information on cancer mechanisms with details of medicinal structures from natural products, this volume compiles the latest developments from across interdisciplinary fields.Discovery and Development of Anti-Breast Cancer Agents from Natural Products will serve as a valuable resource for researchers working to discover promising leads for the development of novel pharmaceuticals for breast cancer, highlighting a number of key structures from natural products and exploring possible future developments in the area. - Highlights active agents from natural sources for development as novel anti-cancer agents - Features contributions from active researchers and leading experts working in the field - Includes foundational background information on both breast cancer mechanisms and natural product structures to support researchers from different disciplines

Medicinal Chemistry of Anticancer Drugs, Second Edition, provides an updated treatment from the point of view of medicinal chemistry and drug design, focusing on the mechanism of action of antitumor drugs from the molecular level, and on the relationship between chemical structure and chemical and biochemical reactivity of antitumor agents. Antitumor chemotherapy is a very active field of research, and a huge amount of information on the topic is generated every year. Cytotoxic chemotherapy is gradually being supplemented by a new generation of drugs that recognize specific targets on the surface or inside cancer cells, and resistance to antitumor drugs continues to be investigated. While these therapies are in their infancy, they hold promise of more effective therapies with fewer side effects. Although many books are available that deal with clinical aspects of cancer chemotherapy, this book provides a sorely needed update from the point of view of medicinal chemistry and drug design. - Presents information in a clear and concise way using a large number of figures - Historical background provides insights on how the process of drug discovery in the anticancer field has evolved - Extensive references to primary literature

The book presents a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of phytochemicals as efficient cancer therapeutics. Over the last few decades there has been a paradigm shift from conventional cancer therapeutic approaches to alternative and complementary medicinal approaches especially using phytoconstituents from natural products. As such, the book provides an in-depth understanding of phytochemicals targeting diverse signaling pathways involved in cancer along with the evaluation of the cancer modulatory effects of phytochemicals. It also highlights the potential modulatory effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on the cancer-associated cellular pathways and their interactions with the phytochemicals. Further, it analyzes the drug delivery methods, bioavailability of active components of botanicals, and toxicity of phytochemicals. Lastly, the book elucidates the 3D cell culture and animal models systems to analyze the beneficial effects of phytochemicals in cancer.

This volume offers a broad overview of topics related to cancer chemoprevention. It provides a review of topics ranging from basic research arenas to clinical trial design, implementation, and interpretation. It covers all key areas necessary for understanding the field of cancer chemoprevention for the interested reader, for individuals wishing to enter this area of investigation, and for individuals seeking guidance in particular areas of research, relating to agent identification, basic science investigations and clinical trials. The genesis of this book is based on the fact that cancer chemoprevention is a relatively new and rapidly evolving field spanning a wide array of disciplines, and forces researchers to address difficult and complex questions whose answers are not readily available. Cancer Chemoprevention provides a ready resource whose importance and intent lie in its ability to gather and solidify disparate data to explicitly outline areas of difficulty and to highlight future areas of important development. It provides broad outlines for current, ongoing and future directions in this area with various target organ sites, written by experts in their respective fields, whose primary research focuses upon that individual field.

Targeting Cell Survival Pathways to Enhance Response to Chemotherapy encompasses recently developed molecular targeting agents and approaches that suppress cell survival signaling. Cell survival signaling attenuates the effectiveness of conventional chemotherapy and numerous mechanisms have been described, and continue to be described, which contribute to cell survival in the face of chemotherapy treatment. Key pathways leading to chemoresistance emanate from growth factor receptors, PI3K, STAT3, anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, autophagy, and the DNA damage response pathway. New advances have underscored the potential of targeting each of these cell survival mechanisms to improve responsiveness to chemotherapy. This book reviews these recent advances and provides a foundational background and hints of new opportunities for basic, translational, and clinical investigators focused on improving therapeutic responses to chemotherapy. - Presents cutting-edge agents and approaches with proved success in different model systems that can be translated to a different type of cancer - Brings updated information to be used to propose new clinical trials investigating innovative strategies for improving responses to chemotherapy - Provides mechanistic details to help guide the design of laboratory studies associated with clinical trials