Natural Compounds: Molecular weapons against leukemias

Nowadays cancer is one of the main reasons of death all over the world and it is estimated that deaths caused by cancer will grow dramatically in the next decades. Even if chemotherapy is the election therapy for solid tumors, as well as leukemias and lymphomas, cancer treatments are in continuous evolution trying to solve the problem of resistance mainly due to low accumulation of the drug in tumor cells (MDR). Natural compounds represent a valid alternative to treat several disease and recently the scientific community focus on these natural compounds and plant metabolites with therapeutic activities and low toxicities compared with synthetic ones. A combination therapy, that join conventional chemotherapy with natural plant metabolites, is now considered a new promising strategy to overcome MDR and reduce cellular toxicity; in particular, in leukemia due to its very complex origin and development of leukemogenesis. Here, we want to summarize and update the recent applications of natural compounds in the treatment of leukemia.