Natural products and their derivatives are the most consistently successful
source of drug leads. One of the most important families of natural compounds known for
their medicinal value is the terpenoids. Terpenoids are found in higher plants, mosses,
liverworts, algae and lichens, and also in insects, microbes or marine organisms; and have
shown to exert anti-infective, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumoral activities. In recent
decades research activity into the clinical potential of this class of compounds in cancer has
increased continuously. In the present review, molecular basis of the anti-tumoral action of
terpenoids is presented with special emphasis on the latest progress in this field, including
the recently elucidated findings about the potential of diterpenoids and triterpenoids as antitumoral
agents. Furthermore, this review will summarize promising compounds that are
being evaluated in clinical trials as potential chemotherapeutic agents.
Keywords: Angiogenesis, apoptosis, cancer, invasion, NF-kB, p53, PI3K/Akt,
proliferation, terpenoids.
