Anticancer Potential of Artemisinin and its Derivatives

Apart from the long-established anti-malarial efficacy, artemisinin and its derivatives have also been proved to have anti-tumor potentials. In recent studies, it has been discovered that artemisinin exhibits much less or nearly no cytotoxicity to healthy cells compared to traditional chemotherapy. Accordingly, the medical application of artemisinin has been a main focus in scientific fields. However, while its inhibiting effects on tumor cells has been confirmed, the specific mechanisms of anti-cancer artemisinin still need to be explored. This article mainly focuses on artemisinin-induced apoptosis and angiogenesis, which are two significant methods to inhibit tumor development. Artemisinin and its derivatives majorly induce apoptosis in cancer cells via mediating RECK, regulating Wildtype P53, inducing ROS-dependent apoptosis and enhancing lysosomal function and lysosomal degradation of ferritin, and affecting mitochondrial pathway and Bim/Bcl-2 balance. Besides, by targeting the NF-kappaB pathway, suppressing the Akt/mTOR pathway, and mediating the Wnt/CaMKII Signaling Axis, DHA and ART effectively inhibit angiogenesis. The essay provides a comprehensive perspective of two mechanisms of artemisinin’s efficacy. Still, clinical research are required to be done to further investigate its effectiveness in medical field, which is likely to become the future research direction.