Peptide-based cancer therapy: opportunity and challenge.

Abstract

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Conventional cancer therapies mainly focus on mass cell killing without high specificity and often cause severe side effects and toxicities. Peptides are a novel class of anticancer agents that could specifically target cancer cells with lower toxicity to normal tissues, which will offer new opportunities for cancer prevention and treatment. Anticancer peptides face several therapeutic challenges. In this review, we present the sources and mechanisms of anticancer peptides and further discuss modification strategies to improve the anticancer effects of bioactive peptides.

• Authors: Dongdong Wu, Yanfeng Gao, Yuanming Qi, Lixiang Chen, Yuanfang Ma, Yanzhang Li
• Journal: Cancer letters (Cancer Lett) Vol. 351 Issue 1 Pg. 13-22 (Aug 28 2014) ISSN: 1872-7980 [Electronic] Ireland
• PMID: 24836189 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides
• Antineoplastic Agents
• Peptide Library
• Plant Extracts
• Plant Proteins

Topics

• Amino Acid Sequence
• Animals
• Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Antineoplastic Agents (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Neoplasms (drug therapy)
• Peptide Library
• Plant Extracts (pharmacology, therapeutic use)
• Plant Proteins (pharmacology, therapeutic use)