Advances in research on the anticancer mechanism of the natural compound cucurbitacin from Cucurbitaceae plants: a review

Cucurbitacins are highly oxidized tetracyclic triterpenoids that are widely found in plants belonging to Cucurbitaceae family and exert various pharmacological effects. Many cucurbitacin derivatives are available, of which cucurbitacins B, D, E, and I are important members of the cucurbitacin family and exert anticancer effects against various cancers. This review summarizes the advances in research on cucurbitacins B, D, E, and I in inducing tumor cell apoptosis, cytoskeletal destruction, cell cycle arrest, and autophagy and in regulating various cancerrelated signaling pathways. In addition, this review summarizes the latest research on the synergistic effects of the combination of cucurbitacins and clinically approved chemotherapeutic drugs. The findings summarized in this review suggest that cucurbitacins are multitargeting and multifunctional anticancer drugs and that their complex anticancer mechanisms should be examined in future studies. Because of their proven benefits, cucurbitacins have the potential to be used as anticancer drugs in the clinical setting.