Modulation of apoptosis by natural products for cancer therapy.

Natural products can exhibit many beneficial effects on human health. As far as cancer is concerned, naturally occurring compounds have been reported to prevent tumorigenesis and also to suppress the growth of established tumors. As cancer cells have evolved multiple mechanisms to resist the induction of programmed cell death (apoptosis), the modulation of apoptosis signaling pathways by natural compounds has been demonstrated to constitute a key event in these antitumor activities. This review presents some examples of how apoptosis pathways are targeted by selected naturally occurring agents and how these events can be exploited for cancer therapy.