Herbal remedies were the first medicines used by humans due to the many pharmacologically active secondary metabolites produced by plants. Some of these metabolites inhibit cell division and can therefore be used for the treatment of cancer, e.g. the mitostatic drug paclitaxel (Taxol). The ability of plants to produce medicines targeting cancer has expanded due to the advent of genetic engineering, particularly in recent years because of the development of gene editing systems such as the CRISPR/Cas9 platform. These technologies allow the introduction of genetic modifications that facilitate the accumulation of native pharmaceutically-active substances, and even the production heterologous recombinant proteins, including human antibodies, lectins and vaccine candidates. Here we discuss the anti-cancer agents that are produced by plants naturally or following genetic modification, and the potential of these products to supply modern healthcare systems. Special emphasis will be put on proteinaceous anti-cancer agents, which can exhibit an improved selectivity and reduced side effects compared to small molecule-based drugs.

由于植物产生许多具有药理活性的次生代谢产物，因此草药是人类最早使用的药物。这些代谢物中的一些会抑制细胞分裂，因此可用于治疗癌症，例如，拟军药紫杉醇（Taxol）。由于基因工程的出现，植物产生针对癌症的药物的能力得到了扩展，尤其是近年来，由于诸如CRISPR / Cas9平台之类的基因编辑系统的发展。这些技术允许引入遗传修饰，以促进天然药物活性物质的积累，甚至促进异源重组蛋白的生产，包括人抗体，凝集素和候选疫苗。在这里，我们讨论了植物天然产生或经过基因改造后产生的抗癌剂，以及这些产品在提供现代医疗保健系统方面的潜力。特别强调蛋白质类抗癌药，与基于小分子的药物相比，它具有更高的选择性和更低的副作用。