Summary

Review on recent development of antitumor agents from Chinese herbal medicines

High molecular compounds from Chinese herbal medicines, including ribosome-inactivating proteins and polysaccharides from both fungi and high plants have been tested for the treatment of malignant diseases. Polysaccharides possessing immunostimulating activities can be used as adjuvants to tumor treatment. Ribosome-inactivating proteins are a group of proteins exerting cytotoxic activities via inhibition of protein synthesis. Some of the ribosome-inactivating proteins have been used as the cytotoxic part in conjugates with monoclonal antibodies as tumor-targeting drugs. The cytotoxic and  antineoplastic mechanisms of the high molecular compounds are rather different from those of the low molecular compounds described in Part I.