Anticancer secondary metabolites from marine sponges

Abstract

The oceans cover 70% of the Earth’s surface. The marine environment is an important source of secondary metabolites with high biodiversity. Besides other marine species, sponges with a wide range of secondary metabolites are an important potential for drug discovery. Cancer is one of the leading causes of death with high morbidity and mortality. It is very important to discover new therapeutic agents in the treatment of cancer. In recent years, studies on exploring new anticancer compounds are focused on the marine source. In this review, our target is collecting the studies about marine sponges secondary metabolites which have an anticancer effect. Among most of the isolated compounds from sponges and their semisynthetic derivatives, there are three FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved compounds and three compounds in clinical phase. Moreover, more than 40 compounds isolated from marine sponges have been tested for anticancer activity in recent 10 years. In conclusion marine sponges secondary metabolites are a promising and important source of the anticancer compounds.