Croton socatranus as a Promising Therapeutic Agent for the Management of Cancer

Abstract

Bioactive compounds from natural resources have revolutionized the arena of drug chemistry. These natural therapeutic substances have consequently gained importance to develop multi-treatment techniques for cancer therapy. Croton species (Euphorbiaceae) have been employed in traditional medicine to cure a wide range of conditions, including oxidative stress-related illnesses, cancer, inflammation, and parasite infections. In this issue, Al-Hakami et al. investigate cytotoxic activity of the methanol extract of Croton socatranus against cancerous cell lines along with beneficial antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. The isolation of active compounds from the plant extract will be of great interest to fully understand the mechanism of anticancer activity. In addition, methanol extract of C. socatranus, which was cytotoxic to both cancerous and non-cancerous cells, may be further explored as sources of new cytotoxic compounds.