The approach to drug discovery from natural sources has yielded many important new pharmaceuticals inaccessible by other routes. In many cases the isolated natural product may not be an effective drug for any of several reasons, but it nevertheless may become a drug through chemical modification or have a novel pharmacophore for future drug design. In summarizing the status of natural products as cancer chemotherapeutics, Anticancer Agents from Natural Products, Second Edition covers the:

History of each covered drug—a discussion of its mechanism on action, medicinal chemistry, synthesis, and clinical applications
Potential for novel drug discovery through the use of genome mining as well as future developments in anticancer drug discovery
Important biosynthetic approaches to "unnatural" natural products

Anticancer Agents from Natural Products, Second Edition discusses how complex target-oriented synthesis—enabled by historic advances in methodology—has enormously expanded the scope of the possible. This book covers the current clinically used anticancer agents that are either natural products or are clearly derived from natural product leads. It also reviews drug candidates currently in clinical development since many of these will be clinically used drugs in the future.

Examples include the drugs etoposide and teniposide derived from the lead compound podophyllotoxin; numerous analogs derived from taxol; topotecan, derived from camptothecin; and the synthetic clinical candidates, E7389 and HTI-286, developed from the marine leads, halichondrin B and hemiasterlin.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Gordon M. Cragg, David G. I. Kingston, and David J. Newman
Camptothecin and Its Analogs
Nicolas J. Rahier, Craig J. Thomas, and Sidney M. Hecht
The Discovery and Development of the Combretastatins
Kevin G. Pinney, George R. Pettit, Mary Lynn Trawick, Christopher Jelinek, and David J. Chaplin
Homoharringtonine and Related Compounds
Hideji Itokawa, Yukio Hitotsuyanagi, and Kuo-Hsiung Lee
Podophyllotoxins and Analogs
Kuo-Hsiung Lee and Zhiyan Xiao
Taxol and its Analogs
David G. I. Kingston
The Vinca Alkaloids
Fanny Roussi, Françoise Guéritte, and Jacques Fahy
The Bryostatins
David J. Newman
The Isolation, Characterization, and Development of a Novel Class of Potent Antimitotic Macrocyclic Depsipeptides: The Cryptophycins
Rima S. Al-awar and Chuan Shih
Chemistry and Biology of the Discodermolides, Potent Mitotic Spindle Poisons
Sarath P. Gunasekera and Amy E. Wright
The Dolastatins: Novel Antitumor Agents from Dolabella auricularia
Erik Flahive and Jayaram Srirangam
Ecteinascidin-743 (Yondelis®), Aplidin®, and Irvalec®
Carmen Cuevas, Andrés Francesch, Carlos M. Galmarini, Pablo Avilés, and Simon Munt
Discovery of E7389, a Fully Synthetic Macrocyclic Ketone Analog of Halichondrin B
Melvin J. Yu, Yoshito Kishi, and Bruce A. Littlefield
HTI-286 (Taltobulin), A Synthetic Analog of the Antimitotic Natural Product Hemiasterlin
Raymond J. Andersen, David E. Williams, Wendy K. Strangman, and Michel Roberge
The Actinomycins
Anthony B. Maugera and Helmut Lackner
Anthracyclines
Federico-Maria Arcamone
Ansamitocins (Maytansinoids)
Tin-Wein Yu, Heinz G. Floss, Gordon M. Cragg, and David J. Newman
Benzoquinone Ansamycins
Kenneth M. Snader
Bleomycin Group Antitumor Agents
Sidney M. Hecht
Biochemical and Biological Evaluation of (+)-CC-1065 Analogs and Conjugates with Polyamides
Rohtash Kumar and J. William Lown
Epothilone, a Myxobacterial Metabolite With Promising Antitumor Activity
Gerhard Höfle and Hans Reichenbach
Enediynes
Philip R. Hamann, Janis Upeslacis, and Donald B. Borders
The Mitomycins
William A. Remers
Staurosporines and Structurally Related Indolocarbazoles as Antitumor Agents
Michelle Prudhomme
Combinatorial Biosynthesis of Anticancer Natural Products
Steven G. Van Lanen and Ben Shen
Developments and Future Trends in Anticancer Natural Products Drug Discovery
Gordon M. Cragg and David J. Newman
Index