Anticancer Drug Discovery from Natural Products: A Comprehensive Review of Recent Advances and Future Perspectives
Natural products have long been a vital source of anticancer agents, with numerous clinically approved drugs derived from plants, marine organisms, and microorganisms. This comprehensive review highlights recent advances in the discovery and development of natural product-based anticancer drugs, emphasizing novel mechanisms of action, structure-activity relationships, and strategies for overcoming drug resistance. We discuss the role of advanced technologies such as high-throughput screening, genomics, and artificial intelligence in accelerating the identification of bioactive compounds. Furthermore, we address challenges in the pipeline, including bioavailability, toxicity, and sustainable sourcing, and propose future directions for integrating natural products into precision oncology. Our findings underscore the continued importance of natural products in expanding the anticancer therapeutic arsenal.