Despite the advances in tumor identification and treatment, cancer remains the primary driver of death around the world. Also, regular treatments for the disease are incapable of targeting particular cancer types at different stages since they are not specifically focused on harmful cells since they influence both solid and tumor cells, causing side effects and undesirable symptoms. Therefore, novel strategies should be developed to treat this disease. Several efforts have been made in this direction to find more effective alternatives to cancer treatment, such as the use of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) with antitumoral activity, nanocarriers and natural compounds from a variety of sources. AMPs are more specific to their targets because of electrostatic interaction between AMPs and the cancer cells’ plasma membrane. Nanocarriers may be used for the delivery of non-soluble drugs, which are poorly stable or require a controlled release. In addition, natural compounds have been a rich source of anti-cancer agents for decades. In this review, these three approaches will be discussed, showing recent advances and advantages of using these strategies to treat cancer as well as the combination of these approaches increasing anticancer activity.

尽管在肿瘤识别和治疗方面取得了进步，但是癌症仍然是全世界死亡的主要驱动力。而且，对该疾病的常规治疗不能在不同阶段针对特定的癌症类型，因为它们不专门针对有害细胞，因为它们既影响实体细胞又影响肿瘤细胞，从而引起副作用和不良症状。因此，应该开发新的策略来治疗这种疾病。在这个方向上已经进行了一些努力以找到更有效的癌症治疗替代方法，例如使用具有抗肿瘤活性的抗微生物肽（AMP），纳米载体和多种来源的天然化合物。由于AMP与癌细胞的质膜之间发生静电相互作用，因此AMP对它们的靶标更具特异性。纳米载体可用于递送不稳定的或需要控释的不溶性药物。此外，数十年来，天然化合物一直是抗癌药的丰富来源。在这篇综述中，将讨论这三种方法，显示出使用这些策略治疗癌症的最新进展和优势，以及这些方法的组合提高了抗癌活性。