Studies on the Anti-Cancer Activity of Corchorusin-d, a Saikosaponin Like Compound Isolated from Corchorus Acutangulus, a Wild Herb

Abstract

Leukemia is a heterogeneous group of neoplasm arising from the malignant transformation of hematopoietic cells. Development of multi-drug resistance is one of the major problems in leukemia. On the other hand melanoma is a less common but deadly type of cancer among all types of skin cancer. Therefore, exploration of new molecules that could revolutionize the management of the disease is urgently needed. Drug discovery from medicinal plants has played an important role in the treatment of cancer and indeed clinical applications of plant secondary metabolites and their derivatives towards combating cancer have been common over the last half centuries. Considering the huge natural resources of India, there is scope for development of potential therapeutic agents from plants. Keeping in mind the thrust of present scenario and based on established reports, the present study was carried out to explore constituents Corchorus acutangulus Lam. (C. aestuans) for anticancer activity. Except one isolated study by a Chinese group, not much work has been done to find out the biological activity of the plant extract and isolates thereof