Therapeutic potential of natural compounds in lung cancer

Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The management of lung cancer treatment is often ineffective as a result of the development of drug resistance, reactions to treatment, drug-drug interactions or non-specific targeting of the anticancer drugs. Natural compounds show promise and potential activity in lung cancer with very few side effects. While, the combinatorial action of an anti-cancer drug with a natural compound provides synergistic action which helps boost the overall therapeutic action against cancer cells. In cancer, there is a dysregulation of apoptosis which facilitates the cancer cell to survive, resulting in progression of cancer. Many cancer drugs cause mutations of genes that regulate cancer and should kill the cancer cell but lead to chemoresistance. There are many natural compounds that could specifically target different cell signalling pathways associated with cancer progression to provide a cytotoxic effect in the target cell. The importance of these compounds is emerging in many therapies developed with dual action often including a natural compound. In this review, we present a selection of these natural compounds and how they target lung cancer cells with a focus on the cell signalling pathways. Further work is required to delineate the potential action of natural compounds in the treatment against cancer.

Automated summary

Lung cancer is a major cause of cancer deaths worldwide, with natural compounds showing potential activity in treatment and providing synergistic action when combined with anti-cancer drugs. The dysregulation of apoptosis in cancer cells leads to chemoresistance, but natural compounds can specifically target cell signalling pathways associated with cancer progression to induce cytotoxic effects. Further research is needed to explore the potential action of natural compounds in cancer treatment.