Cancer is a heterogeneous disease and is one of the significant health issues, especially in public health systems around the world. Natural products and their structural derivatives with outstanding chemical diversity have been investigated for potential anti-cancer agents. Many natural products revealing potential anti-cancer properties such as cytotoxicity, proliferation inhibition, induced apoptosis, retard metastasis, suppressing angiogenesis, and improved chemotherapy have been isolated from various plants and herbs. Several promising lead molecules have been identified recently; a few are in the clinical trial stage. This short communication summarises the role of natural products and their analogs in anti-cancer drug developments, especially plant, marine and microbial-based anti-cancer agents.

中文翻译：

---

天然产物在开发新型抗癌药物中的作用：一个观点

癌症是一种异质性疾病，是重要的健康问题之一，尤其是在世界各地的公共卫生系统中。已经研究了具有突出化学多样性的天然产物及其结构衍生物作为潜在的抗癌剂。许多天然产物显示出潜在的抗癌特性，例如细胞毒性、增殖抑制、诱导细胞凋亡、延缓转移、抑制血管生成和改善化学疗法，已从各种植物和草药中分离出来。最近发现了几种有前途的先导分子；少数处于临床试验阶段。这份简短的通讯总结了天然产物及其类似物在抗癌药物开发中的作用，尤其是植物、海洋和微生物抗癌剂。