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Current Insights on the Role of Terpenoids as Anticancer Agents: A Perspective on Cancer Prevention and Treatment

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Natural Bio-active Compounds

Abstract

Terpenoids are known to be a large family of secondary metabolites found ubiquitously in the plant kingdom and structurally composed of isoprenoid units. The diverse array of terpenoids has increased the interest in their commercial and pharmaceutical uses due to their antioxidative, anti-inflammation, and anticancer properties. Based on the structure, terpenoids are divided into six classes, namely monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, tetraterpenes, and polyterpenes. Several terpenoids have been found to exhibit anticancer property via acting on different stages of tumor development, such as inhibition of the early initiation and progression of tumorigenesis by inducing cell cycle arrest, tumor cell differentiation, and apoptosis, and in the late stages, suppression of angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis through the regulation of various intracellular signaling pathways. A relevant progress in the delineation of the detailed mechanism of their anticancer action has made these compounds as a promising therapeutic agents. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to present an updated overview of the current progress in the anticancer properties of terpenoids.

Irfan A. Ansari and Mohd Sayeed Akhtar have equally contributed for this chapter.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Biosciences, Integral University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

      Irfan A. Ansari

    2. Department of Botany, Gandhi Faiz-e-Aam College, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

      Mohd Sayeed Akhtar

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    1. Irfan A. Ansari
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    Correspondence to Irfan A. Ansari .

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    1. Department of Biotechnology, East West First Grade College of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

      Mallappa Kumara Swamy

    2. Department of Botany, Gandhi Faiz-e-Aam College, Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India

      Mohd Sayeed Akhtar

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    Ansari, I.A., Akhtar, M.S. (2019). Current Insights on the Role of Terpenoids as Anticancer Agents: A Perspective on Cancer Prevention and Treatment. In: Swamy, M., Akhtar, M. (eds) Natural Bio-active Compounds. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7205-6_3

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