Anticancer Effects and Mechanisms of Artemisinin and Its Derivatives on Hematological Malignancies

Abstract

: Traditional Chinese medicine believes that artemisinin (ART) could treat malaria which are extracted from artemisia. Modern medicine found that except the use of curing malaria, artemisinin and its derivatives also show anticancer activities in vitro and in vivo by reducing the proliferation, migration, invasion, tumorigenesis and metastasis of cancer cells. As the components of natural plants, artemisinin and its derivatives demonstrated multi-specific manner in the treatment of hematological malignancies. The major mechanisms of effects of artemisinin and its derivatives on anticancer activities include induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, inhibition of proliferation, etc., through regulating multiple pathways, such as JNK, KDR / Flk-1, MAPK, STAT3 and Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathways. This review discusses the anticancer activity of artemisinin, artesunate and dihydroartemisinin (DHA) in the treatment of hematological malignancies, and from which it is demonstrated that ART and its derivatives are effective in vitro and in vivo. Future research is required in this promising field of cancer drug discovery.