Background and Methods:
Chemotherapy remains one of the most important methods for the treatment of
cancer. More recently in this context, some products derived from natural products have raised scientific interest which
especially include many terpenes. Thereby, diterpenoids represent a special class, and within this class of important
secondary natural products, especially compounds derived from Dehydroabietylamine (DA), are of particular interest.
Results:
This review not only gives a summary of the most important findings on the cytotoxic behavior of DAderived
compounds but also shows some drawbacks of these compounds, such low bioavailability and/or poor solubility
of several derivatives of DA. It focusses on the chemical aspects and summarizes the DA related biological
effects without deep discussion of underlying biochemical pathways.
Conclusion:
Dehydroabietylamine-derived cytotoxic compounds hold a high potential to be developed into efficient
antitumor active drugs.
Marine natural products from sponges (Porifera) of the order Dictyoceratida (2013 to 2019); a promising source for drug discovery
