Marine Compounds and Cancer 2017

In Western countries cancer is among the most frequent causes of death. Despite striking advances in cancer therapy especially by the so called targeted agents there is still an urgent need for new drugs in oncology. Hope comes from the marine environment which is a rich source of natural compounds showing anti-cancer activity. To date four marine cytotoxic substances namely cytarabine trabectidine eribulin and monomethyl auristatin E (as a drug-antibody conjugate named vedotin) have made it into clinical routine. Many more are in all phases of clinical testing and a plethora of substances has already been examined for in vitro and in vivo activity.Interestingly more and more precise research tools allow the dissection of the molecular mode of action of these cytotoxic substances thereby uncovering the specific drug targets in cancer cells. This development will blur the edges between targeted and untargeted therapy and will hopefully lead to a more directed use of cancer medicine (based on a molecular rationale of activity) in the future.This Topical Collection will cover the whole scope from agents with cancer-preventive activity to novel and previously characterized compounds with anti-cancer activity both in vitro and in vivo and the latest status of clinical development from drug trials. Of note compounds possessing pro-carcinogenic activity or mediating cancer cell survival are also within the scope of this Topical Collection. In addition a special focus will be placed on current shortfalls and possible strategies to overcome obstacles in the area of marine anti-cancer drug development.