Structure Activity Relationship Analysis of Anticancer Chinese Drugs and Related Plants

Surveys over 120 species of plants, many of them used in Chinese traditional or folk medicine to treat cancer. Reports on the scientific screening of compounds isolated from plants that have shown cytotoxic and/or antitumor activity. Examines the structures of active compounds and mechanisms of action for sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenes, steroids, alkaloids, and others. Each year millions of dollars support scientific research in an effort to learn about the causes of cancer and to discovery safe and effective cures. So much is published each year that even specialists find it difficult to keep up with current research. In this timely book Professor Eric J. Lien and his assistant Wen Y. Li, both working in biomedicinal chemistry - a branch of the School of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California - have collaborated in their efforts to summarize some of the most recent research on the molecular structure of numerous plants that have shown promise in the treatment of various types of cancer. Many of these natural products, known and used by the ancient Chinese, have been screened by the United States National Cancer Institute.